Cards of Mortality: The 140th Hunger Games
by Platrium
Summary: The President of Panem thinks of an idea that can twist some events in this year's hunger games. Will this program turn into a success, or will this be the worst thing she has ever planned for the hunger games? Find out about the alternate canon end, twist, and more on the first chapter.
1. Of Tricks and Trials

Disclaimer: I do not own the Hunger Games and its story structure.

* * *

It is late at night when Doctor Florentine Flores, the current president of Panem, watches a show in which she can see stuntmen doing the trapeze above flames. She stretches her arm to her nearby bedside table to get her glass of champagne. She chugs it all down, as it is the last that she would want to drink for the night. She continues to watch the stuntmen play above the fire, when a trick on live television goes wrong. Loud gasps and screams can be heard from the TV. This gave Doctor President an idea to make the next hunger games more exciting. As she switches the TV off, she grabs her mobile phone to jot down an idea she suddenly thinks of before hitting the hay. She claps her hands to switch the lights off. Taking out her eye mask, she wears it while positioning herself properly on her fiery-looking bed. After all, Doctor President loves fire to a passion!

After the Snow dynasty was overthrown, the succeeding presidents continued the tradition of the hunger games. More uprisings happened between this time and the end of the Snow dynasty, but all of which ended unsuccessfully. Katniss Everdeen was by far the strongest and most daring rebel in the history of Panem after the Dark Days. Ever since she was assassinated by a deranged Capitolite fan, former president Coriolanus Snow's succedent announced the continuation of the hunger games tradition. Needless to say, this angered most of the people living outside the Capitol, but those people are powerless compared to the president. Politics have also changed ever since. Each president after the Snow dynasty has been allowed a minimum of five years of presidency. Furthermore, each president may only run for re-election once, giving some presidents a maximum of a decade as President of Panem.

Doctor Flore, as how she was called before her presidency, was living in the Capitol since birth. She had one goal in life since childhood – to become the greatest doctor or scientist in Panem. During her late 20's and early 30's, she considered herself successful enough, as she had developed new medicine, new methods, and new ideas that inspired the youth. Medical technology was booming after her rise. Due to her fame, the president at that time gave her a cabinet position, obviously related to health and medicine. She did not desire to be involved in politics; it was never her dream. Several years after, peer pressure from many Capitolites convinced her to run for presidency as an independent candidate. Ultimately, she won by a hair, by less than ten votes. Recounting of ballots were done countless times, and her rival, Victron van Gothen, could not accept his loss, thus he resolved himself to suicide. Doctor Flore was going to give him a cabinet position eventually as a consolation prize, but alas he took his own life.

On Doctor President's first four years of presidency, she didn't know what to do. In fact, she was only a cabinet secretary for two years. Nevertheless, with the guidance of Vice President Makker de Kabaitan, Panem resolved some issues outside the Capitol. Ever since the end of the Snow dynasty, the outlying districts of Panem were slowly rising from poverty. Doctor President only made this better by improving the health conditions in the nation.

During the hunger games of her first year as president, she did not have any high expectations from the gamemakers, thus she did not demand anything from them. Unfortunately, the head gamemaker she appointed was a young and unexperienced one, thus the games that year was probably the slowest in the history of the hunger games. It lasted for 61 days, exactly two months. It wasn't even a quarter quell with more than the standard twenty-four tributes. It was an ordinary year with a few skilled tributes and a stupid set of careers. After the bloodbath, the next tribute killed was already in Day 5 of the games. People were getting bored, or worried in the perspective of people outside the Capitol. Doctor President didn't want to demand the gamemakers, but even they did not think of the viewers. The games that year was not rushed at all. There were mutts and natural disasters that year, but after they were foiled, the gamemakers had no back-up plan. As pathetic as the situation was, even the vice president had no idea what to demand to the gamemakers. In the end, the games came to a close when the arena started collapsing, because it wasn't meant to last too long anyway. Due to this flop, the head gamemaker resigned from his position. Doctor President had to appoint someone else, a former classmate of hers, into the position as head gamemaker. He was more experienced than the previous head gamemaker, and so he made the games more and more exciting after one of the worst games ever. This year, however, Doctor President has finally established an idea about a small twist in this year's games.

As the sun shines brightly throughout Panem, Doctor President enters her office in an energetic fashion. As she sits down in her presidential seat, she finger-combs her amber, pixie cut hair. She takes out a mirror from her bag and uses it to help her apply her glossy pink lipstick. She looks at both of her sparkling blue eyes and the graying hair from her mirror. She knows she's getting old, but she has already achieved so much in life. At the age of 50, becoming president colored her life even more. Now that she's 54, going 55, she knew her presidency is about to end. She said she would not be running for re-election, as it has stressed her even more than she had ever expected. She fixes the sleeves of her white lab coat. It has "Florentine F. Flores, M.D." on one side and then the seal of the President of Panem on the other. Even though she's already president, a select few still come to her clinic, beside her presidential office, to have a medical consultation with her. As she raises her feet on the tabletop, a set of knocks from the door forces her to put her feet back down.

"Come in!" she says in her naturally British accent.

It is none other than Vice President Makker who opens the door. Makker has an African-American descent. He has a shiny bald head despite him being a decade younger than Doctor President. He wears a pair of eyeglasses, and is muscular compared to most politicians in history. He wears an evening blue blazer and a blood red necktie. As he approaches Doctor President, he shows her a folder with some documents.

"Makker, darling, come take a seat," she says. "We need to talk."

Makker replies with "Yes doc." before returning to the door to close it properly. He comes back to the seat in front of the presidential table.

"Doc," he starts. "Alistair wanted me to give you this."

He gives her the folder containing the a formal letter from Head Gamemaker Alistair, a map of the prepared arena, and other details of the scope.

"Interesting," responds Doctor President. She goes through the map of the arena to see four quadrants divided by a "centerpiece" about the size, if not larger, than the other four sections. She stares at the map intriguingly as she shares the info with VP Makker.

"Makker, darling," she says. "I would love to know your opinion."

"What is it, doc?" he asks.

She pauses for a while before saying slowly, "What do you think about having stuntmen play roles in the arena for this year's hunger games."

He thinks for a moment, before she continues, "I think – we should give these stuntmen an incentive." She pauses to think once again as she stands up and walks around, before continuing with, "We will award one million dollars IF the stuntman stays alive in the whole duration of the hunger games." She continues walking around, and decides to get the TV remote. She goes back to her seat and continues slowly, "Else, at least we've given them a chance to participate in the hunger games, given special roles."

She turns on the TV, and they both see a commercial of different stuntmen performing the wildest stunts they've ever performed. She switches it off afterwards, not expecting the coincidence of the commercial.

"What do you think, darling?" Doctor President asks Makker.

Makker thinks for a moment before saying, "The idea could turn the tables of this year's games. I'd love to find out how things will turn out."

"Very well then! We shall spread the new through media," says Doctor President. "Makker, darling, please tell our lovely master of ceremonies, Isis, to spread the news." She goes to her bag and brings out a sheet of paper. She then says, "I have already prepared a letter this morning regarding this. Please give this to her before dusk."

She properly hands the paper to the vice president. He then replies with, "Yes, doc."

* * *

Later that evening, just before dinner, Doctor President turns on the TV to see Isis Ambergayle on the news channel, as she usually is. Isis has brown skin, brown eyes, and curly pink and blonde hair, though it was naturally straight black hair. At the age of 20, Doctor President is never disappointed at her skills as a journalist. She admires Isis on every shape and angle possible. She then listens attentively to what Isis is about to say.

"Calling all interested Capitolite stunt men and women. The president has an exciting program about role playing, and she wants YOU to be in this once in a lifetime opportunity. If you are interested, please send an email to our lovely President of Panem at doctorflore at panemail dot com. She will send you a soft copy of the application form."

 _Ah Isis! You never fail me._ thinks Doctor President.

"On other news, the reapings for the next hunger games shall begin in less than a week. With that, may the odds be ever…"

"In your favor!" continues Doctor President together with Isis.

* * *

 _Last edited: 09/11/2016_

AN:

Finally! I am starting a Hunger Games fanfic I have been wishing for since more than a year ago. I'm putting my TARP3 on hiatus because of this, but I believe that I may have more readers here than in my other ongoing fanfics.

The SYOT Submission Form is at tinyurl dot com slash PlatriumSYOT. It may be long, but please take your time and don't be intimidated by its length. I am still thinking whether I should make a submission form for the stunt people applying or not.

I want to warn my readers that I may not be fast in updating. If ever you are concerned with the progress of the next chapter, you may leave a review about it or PM me, then I will reply through PM. I will finish the story as long as I am motivated to do so, so please review as much as you can and submit tributes now as it motivates me to update. :)

By the way, I will be having a sponsor system for this SYOT. Please check my profile for the list.

May the odds be ever in your favor!~ :D


	2. Gamemaking with Alistair Lysander

Alistair Lysander, the current head gamemaker, has plenty of ideas up his sleeves. He decided to describe his arena idea to the president at the end of the previous hunger games. She simply liked the idea at first, but now he received her letter about her plans for the next arena. Alistair tries to decipher each and every character she wrote. After all, the president has one of the most typical traits of a doctor – terrible handwriting.

"Jom!" calls Alistair. A fellow gamemaker approaches him. Alistair continues, "Decode this for me." He gives the paper to Jom, who silently walks to his seat.

As he waits for the message being "decoded," he looks at the map of his arena once more. He thinks of the past arenas he had made.

During the 137th Hunger Games, his arena was filled with forests. Not just any forest, but forest with different fruits and berries in them. It was a colorful arena, and those who were knowledgeable in poisonous plants made it further than those who didn't. The cornucopia was on a yellow forest full of pink and blue citruses. However, the cream of the crop of the arena was the black forest. It was Alistair's favorite, and events turned out as he expected them to. The black forest was like a black forest cake – dark soil, dark brown leaves, white icing goo, and giant inverted cherries acting as trees. The clumsiest career that year bumped into one of those trees, and when the cherry bowed down to hit him, his body exploded into a trillion pieces of dead meat. His allies were injured from that impact, physically and emotionally. The president was very impressed with the games overall, and unlike the previous year's games, this one lasted for two weeks only.

After the success of Alistair's first arena, he went on to create the arena of the 138th Hunger Games that starts with twenty-four roller coaster heading to the center. Only those who were resilient escaped the bloodbath before the careers were ready to spill blood. The arena was an abandoned amusement park. There was a triad who was heavily injured after the collapsing of a cave attraction, and then there was a couple who got eaten by horse mutts in a carousel, but the most unbelievable plot twist that year – all 6 careers rode a cable car to their death. Who knew the 13-year-olds from 3 and 6 plotted to wait for the careers at the cable car station, expecting their arrival. Alistair's favorite though was the Zipline of Doom, as he'd call it. The girl from 5 knew taking the zipline would lead her out to the arena, but she forgot about the force field that later on took her soul out of her being. The president was also impressed with this games, but she liked the previous one more than this one.

The 139th Hunger Games started on a dark room. The tributes didn't expect that they were going to start on anti-gravity after the cannon sounds for the start of the bloodbath. All the tributes were using their other four senses to find the door, but one career attempted killing some tributes with his bare hands. Since it was dark, he didn't know he had killed his district partner, the Capitol's favorite of that year. It took the tributes days to realize that they were on an abandoned university. Every tribute that survived the bloodbath had a favorite spot. The girl from 3 owned the science lab, the boy from 9 took the library, the 14-year-old anti-career quartet made the auditorium their home. There was a special machine in hidden in the arena – a weapon generator. Unfortunately, it was never seen in action because it was stocked in the gym's garage, and it can only function with a computer in one of the computer rooms, which was on the other side of the campus. The swimming pool was Alistair's favorite. It was an Olympic-sized swimming pool with one mutt – a half-squid half-eagle hybrid hiding in the female locker room. Even though the girl from 6 killed his mutt, its toxic blood filled the pool and melted the girl with it. The boy from 1 simply wondered why there was a giant sparkling dark violet jelly in what was supposed to be the swimming pool.

This year, Alistair already has something planned right after the cornucopia. This place is nothing abandoned and mostly made from scratch. The four sectors already have a theme in them, and natural disasters will occur more often in this arena than in other arenas.

"Sir," calls Jom to Alistair. The latter was snapped from his dreamy state, as the former hands him a sheet of paper. It said:

 _Alistair darling,_

 _I have finally studied your arena map, and it looks absolutely fantastic! Your arenas never disappoint me, and this one is by far the best!_

 _I have a twist planned: We will be accepting at least 4 stuntmen who will be participating in this year's hunger games. We will be giving them costumes for them to role play. If they survive in the arena until the end of the games, they will each win 1 million dollars. Otherwise, their soul goes with the other 23 fallen tributes. After all, these are stuntmen. They should not be in the Cornucopia. I want you to assign them homes in each sector of the arena. You may or may not provide them food, but they will have a set of special weapons based on the role they are playing._

 _From the deepest erythrocytes, leukocytes, and thrombocytes in my cardiac muscle,_

 _Dr. Pres. Flore_

Now, Alistair knows what else he needs to add. He needs to make these "homes" impressive to the eyes of the audience. He now has other plans aside from setting up natural disasters almost everywhere. These stunt people would twist some things in the games. Not only that, but tributes would not be aware of their existence, and they will assume that they are just mutts. He rubs his hands together and now has a clearer idea of what this year's games would be like. He stands up and goes to the center of the room to make an announcement.

"Attention everyone!" Alistair says. His short silver hair catches the most attention from seeing him. He is shown wearing black slacks and a black blazer, his silver necktie complements his silver hair. His age is showing too since he's already in his mid-50's.

Alistair continues, "I have received a letter from our president. She indicated here that she wants a home in each sector of the arena to house the stuntmen who will be participating in this year's games for a chance to win a million dollars."

The other gamemakers are intrigued by this. They mention a few ideas and possibilities to each other, before Alistair continues talking.

"Right now, we need to quickly modify those portions of the arena," says Alistair. "Divide yourselves into 5 groups. Team 1 will report to me about sector 1, team 2 will report to me out sector 2, and so on."

The 24 gamemakers discuss and group among themselves.

"Do we get the the moun...?" asks someone from team 5.

"No," interrupts Alistair. "Four people will stay with me. We leave the cornucopia naturally and on its own. That place has its own elements." Alistair winks after he mentions the last word.

Four hovercrafts, each containing five gamemakers, are on their way to the arena to make the necessary modifications. Alistair knows he will make the president proud once more. After all, it's her last year as president, and it could be his last year too as head gamemaker. Given this special and important job, Alistair knows what he's up to for this year's arena.

Brenda asks, "Sir, what are we going to do now?"

"We need to order from our suppliers," says Alistair. "Or, we can visit them now and have a mini field trip. The games haven't started yet, so we're just gonna bore ourselves in here."

Everyone nods in agreement.

"Jom, prepare the last hovercraft," commands Alistair. "Everyone else, follow me."

The last five gamemakers take a hovercraft to buy the cornucopia weapons and supplies, leaving the headquarters locked for now.

* * *

AN:

Yay Chapter 2! Hopefully, I can have the next chapter next week, but with midterm exams and projects coming around the corner, I'm not sure if I'll be able to have a chapter next week. Nevertheless, there should be another chapter within this month.

I only have 3 submissions so far, so please submit! :) Don't be intimidated by the non-1st-come-1st-serve policy. It's to discourage bad submissions and _century_ -long reservations. I've seen people reserve slots for a month or more.  
Update: 5 submissions so far, yay! :D Although I said in the Google form not to be afraid to submit to slots already taken, please submit tributes to blank slots first.

I know I've been giving vague details of the arena so far, but can anyone guess what it is? I'll award points for getting it correctly.

I plan to have a chapter of the sponsor shop next, followed by a chapter of the first stunt performer if I can't think of anything else in between. I can start the reapings after that and once I have at least 1 district satisfactorily filled.

That's all for now! :)

P.S. Reminder: tinyurl dot com slash PlatriumSYOT is where you can submit a tribute. :D


	3. Shopping Day

This chapter is okay to skip, but it is a good behind-the-scenes chapter. Sponsor prices are by the bottom of the chapter.

* * *

The five gamemakers proceed to Blacksmith Brennan's shop. He is a bald-headed guy with a long bronze beard, who has colorful but intimidating tattoos all over the body. He is muscular as expected.

"Welcome back, Alistair!" says Brennan in his naturally deep and intimidating voice. "It's the time of the year again."

"It is, indeed!" says Alistair. "Cassine, do you have our list?"

"Yes sir!" says Cassine as she brings out the checklist of weapons.

Alistair inspects the first item on the list – knives. There are still a lot of knives in the headquarters. They just need sharpening. He decides to skip that item. Next item – throwing knives. Most of them got lost, and some of the gamemakers were often playing with them, losing more along the way.

"We'll have two dozen throwing knives," Alistair tells Brennan. While Brennan collects some throwing knives, Alistair goes through the list.

Spears – They were all broken the last time anyone remembers. "We'll get a dozen sprears too," Alistair tells Brennan. He continues through the list – axes. Some of them are still fine. "Five axes," Alistair says. Throwing axes – they got lost too. "Two dozen throwing axes." Bows – They were either lost or broken. "Five bows," says Alistair. Of course, when there are bows, there are arrows too. "And four dozen arrows too," Alistair adds.

"Sir," calls Cassine. "I forgot to add swords to the list."

"We still have a lot," Alistair says.

"I have a Japanese sword," brings out Brennan.

"Ooh!" says some of the gamemakers in amazement.

Alistair sighs and says, "Fine, we'll get one, just one!"

Brennan puts the sword on the counter, along with the other ordered weapons. Alistair is still going through the list, with the next item being daggers. There are still a lot in the headquarters. Maces – they're still alright in the headquarters. Slingshot – they can't buy it here, but they need to replenish it.

"That thing is cool!" says Jom, pointing at a Medieval-esque battle axe.

Brenda says excitedly, "Ooh! Can I touch it?"

"Wait till we get back." replies Jom. It is Brenda's first year as gamemaker after all.

"We'll get one of that then," decides Alistair. It's about time they add cool new weapons. Shuriken is the next thing on the list. "Shuriken, two dozens," says Alistair. Shields – they needed new ones for this. "Five shields," adds Alistair. Medieval armor – Do they even need this? _"Who the fuck added this to the list!?"_ Alistair thought. He skips to the next weapon – grenades. "Grenades, a dozen." Fishing pole – there would be water in the arena, but would there even be fish in that body of water? Nevertheless, they couldn't buy that here, so he proceeds to the next weapon – gauntlets. _Gauntlets! Why didn't I ever think of this!? This is genius!_ he thinks, before saying, "Two pairs of gauntlets." Battle claws – something Alistair never tought of once again. _Battle claws! This will be another fun weapon,_ he thinks. "Two pairs, battle claws," he says.

"How about orbs and scepters?" suggests the fifth, and last known, gamemaker among them, Radon. "I think our cosplayers would need it for the fun to happen."

Alistair thinks about it and agrees to him. "You're right!" he says. "We'll take customizable orbs and scepters then, a dozen, for the discount." Brennan laughs, "Ha, ha, HA!"

The whip was the next thing on the list. Those things need replacing once in a while. "We'll get five whips too."

"Those things," points Brenda. "What are those?"

"Those are caltrops," says Brennan. "They are badass spikes!"

"We'll take a dozen then," says Alistair.

Alistair sees a familiar weapon behind Brennan. It has a paw with sharp claws on one side, and a metal stick on the other side. He has seen it being used in one of the games when he was still a child. This caused him to fear cats, and especially their claws on their paws, for a certain period in his life. It is an intimidating weapon, and he's been looking for it for quite a long time. This year luckily, he decided to go out and buy stuff instead of ordering from the phone.

"What do you call that thing?" asks Alistair.

Brennan replies, "It's a zhua, my wife's favorite weapon since she thinks it's badass."

"I'll take it," Alistair says. He is excited inside him, knowing that he will finally have it in a hunger games wherein he's head gamemaker. He looks through the list once more, but it seems that his transaction has finished. "That's about it," he says. "I'll just send a cheque over within the week."

"No problem," says Brennan. "Enjoy!"

The five gamemakers head back to their hovercraft. Everyone except Alistair carried the new weapons in. They are about to go to the mall for supplies.

* * *

The five have arrived in the supermarket. It is actually too early to buy supplies this early, but Alistair thinks they can hit two birds with one stone today.

"Let's start with some biscuits," Alistair says. "Just throw them in the cart."

As Radon pushes the cart, Cassine and Brenda put as much biscuits as they can, and want, into the cart. Alistair stands in front of several milk bottles.

"Drinking milk makes me thirsty," says Jom.

Alistair says, "Add three bottles to the cart. This could be interesting." He sees juice packs too. "Jom, get me three of those too," Alistair says. He continues to move forward, then he sees energy drinks. Alistair says, "Three of those too." Alistair has a little obsessive-compulsive disorder in him, and he doesn't want to settle with nine drinks without reaching a dozen. He tries to find another drink and has to in order to satisfy himself. _Beer, I can't be serious,_ he thinks. He pauses for a while in front of the beer bottles, before saying, "Jom, get me three of those too." Jom looks confused, but Alistair repeats, "Jom, get me three bottles of beer." Jom is still confused, and so are the other gamemakers, but he obediently gets three bottles of beer.

They all walk to the next section, exiting the one for beverages. "Candies!" reacts Brenda. "It's good to have some sugar." Alistair thinks for a while, then says, "Get two packs of it then, no gum." They move forward, and several sections after, they reach the one that looks medical. "First-aid kit, two sets; Bandages, one pack; Alcohol, four small bottles." Jom gets the first-aid kits, Radon gets the bandages, and then Cassine and Brenda each take two small bottles of alcohol. Cassine gets isopropyl, while Brenda gets ethyl, but that wouldn't really matter.

Brenda says, "Sir!"

"Yes Brenda?" replies Alistair.

"How about some wet wipes?" asks Brenda.

Alistair thinks about wet wipes. _Why will the tributes need these? To wipe the blood off their faces? To clean themselves? To… sanitize their belongings? What!?_ Alistair is curious about Brenda's thoughts, but he decides to buy some anyway.

"Fine, five small packs," says Alistair.

"Yay!" says Brenda. "These are like the BEST invention ever!"

"How about some mirrors?" asks Cassine. "They could get a view of themselves and fix their hair, because I hate cowlicks!"

Alistair thinks that these mirrors can be used for something else, not for one's appearance. "Three pocket mirrors then," says Alistair.

They move to the next section – light. "Two flashlights," says Alistair. "Then one candle, just to throw one tribute off in some way."

"Sir, we need matchsticks too," says Jom. Alistair thinks, _He's right. Not all games have enough wood for tributes to make fire._ In this year's arena, forests won't be found in more than fifty percent of the arena. Alistair says, "Two small boxes then."

They move to some more sections of the supermarket. They proceed to add five water canteens, a butcher's knife, three kinetic fans, and a small jar of honey. They are now on the queue to the cashier, but something catches Brenda's attention before they paid.

"How about a bottle of olive oil?" asks Brenda.

The other four gamemakers stare at her. "What plan do you have in mind?" asks Alistair.

"I don't know," replies Brenda. "I just thought it could be used for massaging, cooking, and if the kids are desperate, we can let them…"

"Drink it!?" continues Cassine.

"Yeah!" says Brenda. "I mean, I really don't know what my brain is telling me. All I want to see is some unique drama to happen in the arena. We'll never know!"

The four others continue staring at her. Alistair hesitantly says, "Fine, one bottle only!" With that, Brenda puts it in the cart. They eventually pay for the goods, and then return to their hovercraft.

* * *

The five gamemakers return to the headquarters.

Alistair commands, "Alright, it's time to put the supplies randomly into the bags."

"But sir," reminds Radon. "We don't even have the bags yet." He's right, because the bags usually get too bloody, radioactive, torn, et cetera to be reused.

Alistair thinks and realizes that he's still missing some supplies. Alistair says, "Cassine, buy me some of those bedtime stuff across the street. Brenda, go with her. Radon, take the hovercraft and buy two dozen bags. Jom, stay with me."

"Yes sir!" the girls say in unison, while Jom sighs. As they all leave, Alistair picks up the phone to call for some more stuff.

"This is Head Gamemaker Alistair," he starts. "mm-hm, mm-hm." He waits for someone on the other side of the line, then suddenly, "Yes, Head Gamemaker Alistair. I would like to purchase two slingshots, a dozen ropes, a wooden mallet, a boomerang, a fishing pole, five night goggles, and five compasses." He listens to the person on the other line, before saying, "Please deliver it to the headquarters." He hangs up the phone.

Later that evening, after the twenty other gamemakers return, the gamemakers decide to discuss the values of the prices. They come up with a summary of the agreed amounts. The summary is as follows:

Weapons:

Knife – 40

Dagger – 40

Spear – 70

Mace – 70

Rope – 30

Bow – 30

Arrows (12) – 50

Darts (12) – 40

Axe – 70

Machete – 80

Shield – 50

Nunchuks – 80

Slingshot – 50

Throwing Axes (12) – 70

Throwing Knives (12) – 70

Grenade – 100

Helmet – 60

Scuba Gear – 70

Wire – 50

Butcher's Knife – 60

Hook – 60

Trident – 90

Survival:

Water – 20

Food – 30-50 (depends)

Drink (not water) – 30-50 (depends)

X-Ray Glasses – 80

Night Goggles – 80

Towel – 50

Kinetic Fan – 60

Burn Cream – 90

Flashlight – 70

Bandage – 70

First-Aid Kit – 100

* * *

AN:

If you want to sponsor other stuff, please PM me. Sponsoring starts before the bloodbath, but I recommend sponsoring after the bloodbath.

I have 7 submissions so far. Yay! :D If you want to submit a tribute go to tinyurl dot com slash PlatriumSYOT. There are still a lot of vacant slots. Submission summary is on my profile.

I was able to squeeze this chapter this week, but since it is my midterms week, I have 3 exams on 3 straight days this week, and I have to work on a project this weekend. My next update will probably be next week, and I'll probably start with the reapings next chapter. So far, I'm impressed with the tribute submissions. There was one whom I can already imagine blending in with the environment, and most of the fears I have encountered could be… triggered, probably because of my arena. By the way, you can still guess what the arena is gonna be. :D

My plan now is to have three reaping chapters next, then a stunt performer chapter, and then another three reapings, and then another stunt performer, and so on. One chapter equals one district's reapings. I won't do it in order, because I don't have to, and so that I can balance the excitement. I've read stories with career reapings first, then the latter reaping chapters become somewhat dull.

That's all for now. Please come back next week! :D


	4. D7 Reapings: Fun versus Fear

The river flows rapidly and the forest makes a melody, since it is raining in District 7. This is one of the many days Orion Fleming skips work to play with his friends. Among them are Heron, Reed, and Daisy. All four of them are of the same age, fifteen. They would've been swimming in the river had it not been raining, but they can still go fishing.

"I don't know if Dad hid my fishing rod, or it just got lost in my house," says Reed.

"Don't worry," says Daisy. "We can just do something else."

"Like climbing trees!" suggests Orion.

"No, it's too dangerous," says Daisy.

Heron suggests, "Why don't we just walk around and relax?"

"Whatever," says Daisy. "I'm so nervous for the reapings."

"Calm down," says Heron. "The reapings don't start until tomorrow at eleven."

The time the reapings happen varies per district, depending on its distance from the Capitol. Daisy tries to keep her calm as she follow the boys.

Orion says, "Why don't we play a game of tag?"

"Tag, you're it!" says Reed upon touching Orion. The four run, hide, and play around the forest. The forests in District 7 are big after all.

"Gotta catch 'em all!" says Orion. "I'm coming for you, Reed."

"Take Heron instead," replies Reed.

Heron appears from behind a tree. Orion touches Heron and says, "You're it!"

Heron runs after Daisy and Orion. They are headed to the river. Heron then goes after Reed instead. "Why me!?" says Reed in a fun manner.

As the two boys run one after the other, Orion and Daisy make it to the river. Daisy says, "Look! An otter."

The otter is swimming relaxedly on the river, despite the rapid waters. Orion then says, "Did you know that otters are sea creatures who love to write stories?"

"How so?" asks Daisy.

"Because they're _otters_!" Orion replies.

The two of them laugh. Suddenly from behind, Heron taps onto Orion and says, "Your turn!"

Orion passes the same thing to Daisy before running off. At the end of their small game, mud can be visibly seen on their clothes. They walk slowly out of the forest.

"See you in the reapings tomorrow!" says Heron to his three friends.

"See ya!" says Daisy.

Orion says, "Did you know that food and bad jokes have something in common?"

"What?" asks Heron.

"Not everyone gets it," says Orion.

"Oh Lord," says Reed.

They all laugh, then they say goodbye to each other before going to their own ways. It's almost evening when Orion gets home. His brother is at home too, with the usual welcome Orion receives.

"How many times did I tell you to grow up!?" says his brother, Lake, angrily. "I hate eating cream cheese sandwich, especially when I was expecting cream cheese!" Orion suddenly remembers what he did earlier this morning. He hid and replaced all the cream cheese with toothpaste. Orion then replies to his brother, "At least it keeps your teeth clean and healthy!" Orion laughs aloud. Lake then says, "This is not funny, Orion."

As Lake heads back to his room, Orion sees a small thumbtack stuck on Lake's belt. _He never noticed it!?_ Orion thinks. It's been Orion's habit to make people laugh and play pranks on others, especially his brother, who's two years older than him.

After taking a shower, Orion heads out to the dining room. His father, Spade, just arrives from work, looking reclusive and drunk as usual. He's been like that ever since his wife, Selene, died. She was giving birth to their third child and supposedly only daughter, Rose, but it didn't go well, to simply say it.

Spade left their dinner on the table. He goes to the fridge to get a beer then proceeds to his room as usual. His family has been in the middle class after all, so Lake and Orion get decent food every day. Orion gets his food as well as his brother's. He opens it to see a chicken leg with rice, each. They each have a small cup of soda as well. Since the soda is dark in color, Orion puts hot sauce on one of them. He takes the other soda and one of the meals to his room.

 _Lake should be yelling my name any minute now,_ thinks Orion.

* * *

Susie Ye is a seventeen-year-old girl with a special condition, or rather a mental disability. It was unknown how she suddenly got schizophrenia at the age of fourteen, but this made a big and bad impact in her life. People think she is normal, but inside her head is an eerie voice of a "person" she feared most, Kevin. It's been his responsibility to wake her up every day.

" _Wake up, darling!"_ calls Kevin. _"Today's the big day!"_

Susie widens her eyes in fear. She breathes heavily and realizes that she has to live another day with Kevin.

Kevin yells, _"Hurry up! We don't want to be late today's big event!"_

Susie gets out of bed to prepare herself for the reapings. She never tells anyone about her schizophrenia and how it happened. She can still remember the day Kevin came into her life like it is just yesterday.

 _~Flashback Start~_

She was walking at the marketplace one day when she was fourteen.

 _"Susie!"_ whispered a voice eerily.

She looked back, but there was no one. She continued with her pace, and heard the same voice call her.

 _"Susie, there you are!"_ said the voice. _"My name is Kevin, and I will be the guide to your life."_

 _I don't need a guide, and I can't even see this guy!_ she thought. _Should I tell him? How should I when I can't even see him!?_

 _"Don't be shy,"_ said Kevin. _"Meet me at your house."_

Susie thought with her eyes wide open, _Who are you!?_

Regardless of her not being able to find Kevin, she immediately went back to her house. Unfortunately, she didn't see anyone there.

" _Let's go to your room and have a little chitchat,"_ said Kevin.

Susie obeyed and listened to what Kevin had to say that time.

 _"You can't see me, but I can see you!"_ said Kevin. _"Now, you have to listen to me and obey my every command."_

"Why!?" said Susie. "I don't need a guide in life."

 _"Because if you don't do what I want you to do, I will kill your loved ones for you,"_ replied Kevin. _"I could even kill you!"_

Susie remained silent.

 _~Flashback End~_

As she enters the bathroom, she feels pained from remembering that core memory of her life. She tries not to think of another terrible memory, but whenever she remembers Kevin coming into her life, she will automatically think of her late friend, Katrina Oakley. She was an energetic and determined girl, but her life ended tragically when a tree fell to her direction. Susie thinks to this day that it was Kevin's doing, but it was actually just pure coincidence. Kevin once demanded Susie to steal money from Katrina, otherwise he would kill Katrina. Susie refused to this request, and Katrina was killed by an accident on the following day.

She looks into the mirror and into her dark brown eyes. She reminisces the days when she held on to her friends pricelessly. Ever since Kevin took over her life though, she tries to stay away from them, because she fears that Kevin may one day kill them too.

" _Hurry!"_ commands Kevin.

She feels guilty every single day knowing what she did exactly a year and a month after the tragedy of Katrina. At the age of fifteen, life has never been the same since her sister, Juniper, thirteen that time, "committed suicide." Everyone to this day who knows Juniper thinks she killed herself, because she seemed to keep everything to herself with her usually depressing aura. Despite Juniper being a moody and introverted but good-natured girl, Kevin told Susie to kill her, or else he'd kill everyone Susie knows and cares about. It hurts Susie's conscience to this day on how she murdered her sister. She remembers Juniper's shocked and pathetic face expression, as well as her last word.

" _Susie!?"_ Juniper's voice echoes in her head.

She shakes away the thought and continues to brush her teeth, trying not to think of anymore bad memories.

" _Don't forget darling,"_ says Kevin. _"You are doing this for you and for me. Mwahahahahahaha!"_

Susie remains still, thinking about the moment Kevin told her to volunteer for the next hunger games. He told her to win it regardlessly, and then he'd leave her free, forever! After all, if she will live to be the next victor, she will live freely without Kevin "guiding" her, and if she loses, she'd be lifeless to worry about a voice in her head which she still thinks to be real. Kevin threatens her that he will turn her into an orphan if she doesn't volunteer, but her mind has already been set to go for Kevin's plan of her volunteering on the next games.

Susie, like her sister, is introverted and good-natured. Her introversion came to a peak when Kevin entered her life. She cares for her family and friends dearly, treating them like how a historian would value a unique millennium-old treasure. She cares for herself too, and doesn't want to commit suicide even after going through Kevin's menacingly evil demands eternally. She may have wished killing herself several times, but she fears that Kevin will one day kill everyone she cares if she commits suicide, since it is the worst-case scenario that she thinks Kevin would absolutely and passionately do.

As Susie exits the bathroom, she returns to her room. Her parents prepare her reaping dress every year. This year is nothing different as she sees her frilly black dress laid properly on her bed. After changing into her reaping outfit, she looks at the mirror.

" _It looks great for you, darling!"_ says Kevin.

Susie keeps her calm, knowing that she'd free herself from this soon, in about one to three weeks. She's been calm and collected in private and in public whenever Kevin threatens her with anything. From the mirror, she looks at her small structure, shoulder-length jet black hair, and Chinese dark brown eyes. She likes dressing in dark colors, so she doesn't have to worry about what her parents prepare for her this year.

She exits her room to see her parents, Elmer and Rowena, waiting for her. They feel slightly distant to Susie, but they have a heart of kindness to anyone in general. Being in the middle class, they are able to provide Susie with the necessities in life. However, they fail, and don't make an effort, in becoming close to their daughter. Susie's sister, Juniper, is supposedly Rowena's favorite child, but when the former "committed suicide," the latter doesn't make a plan to connect with her only daughter.

They leave their house in order to go to the plaza for the reapings. On the way to the plaza, Kevin torments her with something again. Normally, it would be harmless stuff such as cheating or stealing.

Kevin says, _"Steal a dollar from your mom, or else I'll KILL her after the reapings!"_

Susie knows her mom's back pocket is full of money, so she just grabs one and hides it.

" _Very good!"_ says Kevin. _"That's my girl!"_

They arrive at the plaza, and there's a queue in registering for attendance. Susie's parents stay at the back portion of the plaza to wait for the event, while Susie queues into the female queue. When she's at the head of the queue, the peacekeeper uses a device that looks like an enlarged barcode scanner on Susie's face.

"Name: Susie Ye; Age: 17," says the information scanning machine.

As the peacekeeper records her attendance, she proceeds to the seventeen-year-old section. Getting blood from each tribute candidate became old and lame to some of the peacekeepers and presidents. The eighteen-year-old section is the closest to the stage, while the twelve-year-old section is the closest to the entrance. Every other age group is sorted accordingly. From the entrance, the females are on the right side while the males are on the left. From the stage, it's the opposite. The same arrangement is used in all the other districts.

A girl named Agatha from the sixteen-year-old section calls, "Susie! Hey Susie!" Her only intention is to say hi after not seeing her for a year or less.

" _Ignore her!"_ commands Kevin. _"Otherwise, I'll kill her, tomorrow!"_

"Susie!" calls Agatha. She then gives up while Susie feels guilty not minding one of her old friends. She tries to think that she didn't hear it since a lot of people around her are chatting, but she knows she's lying to herself. Her fear of Kevin is hindering her from doing the right things.

* * *

The escort enters the stage. He looks like a tree with his unnaturally brown skin and afro green hair. It's easy to tell from his face that he is Caucasian, and not African despite the skin color. He's been the escort of District 7 since the 133rd Hunger Games.

"Hello District 7!" Jim Jam greets. He reads through his scripted speech and then shows a video about the history and inception of the Hunger Games. Back then, all the escorts show one same video for a hundred years, but during the start of the 101st reapings until the present day, an updated video also includes clips from some of the first one hundred Hunger Games and some rebellions that happened in that century.

"Let's start with the girls," Jim says. He picks up a pink slip from the bowl on the left side of the stage, from his perspective. He opens the slip of paper and reads the name out loud, "Agatha Wood."

A girl from the sixteen-year-old section sighs aloud and walks to the stage. Susie knows it's time to say it, but she hesitates for a while thinking it might look like she's volunteering for an ex-friend. Also, volunteering is unusual in non-career districts, so people may think she's insane. Then again, it's better to look like she's volunteering for an ex-friend than volunteering like an insane person. She's lucky it will look like that to people who know Agatha.

" _Come on, darling!"_ demands Kevin. _"Say it! Just say it!"_

As Agatha reaches the last step of the stairs to the stage, a tear falls from her face, before Susie yells, "I volunteer!" People react violently, and Susie's parents are both in shock.

 _I have just signed myself a ticket to freedom,_ thinks Susie as she walks to the stage. Jim greets her, "What is your name?"

"Susie," she replies nervously. "Susie Ye."

"Can you tell us why you volunteered for the games?" asks Jim.

Susie stammers, "I… I…" She looks at the crowd, and she sees her parents mixed expressions. "I… I can't say it."

The crowd reacts once again. _Now people will think of me as a fool,_ she thinks. _I would've said I volunteered for Agatha, but it's too poor of a valid reason._

"Wow!" reacts Jim. "We'll get back to her next time! Right now, we still need a male tribute from your district."

Jim goes to the other side of the stage to reap the male tribute of the district. He reads, "Orion Fleming."

From the fifteen-year-old section, a thin but muscular dark skinned boy walks to the stage. He wears a pair of jeans and a faded red shirt, and has short black hair as well as brown eyes. He looks serious with his unusually unhappy face expression, since he usually wears a smile on his face.

 _Is Lake gonna volunteer for me?_ Orion wonders. _I don't wanna die yet!_

He makes it to the stage, where Jim asks him, "How are you?"

"Fine!" says Orion sarcastically. "I'm absolutely fine that I'll be dying in the Hunger Games. Woohoo!"

Some people in the crowd manage to laugh at his sarcastic remark.

"Well folks, here are your tributes for District 7!" closes Jim. Susie and Orion shake hands.

* * *

Orion wants to live life to the fullest, but now that he's been reaped, he's scared and pessimistic about his life which may come short. He's greatly surprised that Lake, as big brother, didn't volunteer for him.

First to enter the room is his father, followed by his brother.

Lake starts, "Orion, you have to come back home, no matter what."

Orion is still slightly bitter because he was expecting Lake to volunteer for him, but he tries to swallow the fact that he didn't. After all, for an older sibling to volunteer for a younger sibling is an optional obligation, since not every older sibling is a Katniss Everdeen.

Their father, Spade, sighs before saying, "Oh son, I wish I could do more than what I'm doing now to give you a better life, to save you from the Hunger Games."

His father may be drunk. The Hunger Games is unavoidable unless they are all Capitolites. Even though Lake is annoyed at Orion at most times, he still has a heart to be caring to his one and only little brother.

Orion replies, "I will do anything to make it back home, I promise."

"Good," says Lake. "We will be rooting for you."

"Of course," says Orion with an eye roll.

"We'll sponsor you a gun, and hopefully you can kill everyone and make it out alive to be the next victor," says Spade.

Spade is obviously drunk! Does he even know what items are sponsorable or not? Does he even have enough money to sponsor such, if ever it's allowed?

"Thanks Dad!" says Orion as he laughs.

"Dad, we'll talk outside," Lake tells Spade.

As they exit, Orion's friends come in.

Heron says, "We're gonna show our support to you now!"

Reed says, "Yeah! We know you can do this!"

"Thanks!" says Orion, trying to cheer himself up slowly.

"I really wish we can play more someday," says Daisy. "I know you're coming back for all of us."

"Yeah!" agrees Reed and Heron.

Heron says, "Don't feel too serious now. Just play it seriously when you're there already."

"Yeah," Reed agrees.

"Sure!" says Orion. "I won't take it seriously there, and they won't kill me seriously too. Hahaha!"

"Oh Orion," says Daisy. "I will miss you."

"We all will," says Reed.

"Take care!" says Heron.

"I'll come back for all of you, I promise," says Orion.

"Once you're victor, you have to invite us to your new house," says Reed.

"Says who!?" says Orion mockingly.

The four laugh at that remark, then it's time for Orion to proceed to the train which heads straight to the Capitol.

* * *

All Susie is afraid of now is if she made the right move or not, in her parent's eyes, but she knows the move is just right to escape from Kevin soon.

Kevin says, _"I'm so proud of you, darling! Now, you have to win this!"_

She sighs, then her parent come in with mixed negative expressions.

"Susie," her mom, Rowena, starts in sorrow.

Her dad, Elmer, continues in a worried tone, "Why did you volunteer!? Are you okay? Please tell us what's wrong."

" _If you tell them about me, I'll kill you, and both of them, this instant!"_ Kevin threatens.

"I'm on my right mind," Susie replies. "I promise."

"Then why did you volunteer!?" asks Rowena.

"I… I don't want to reveal it yet," Susie says.

Elmer says, "Then when will you tell us!?"

"We don't want to lose you after losing Juniper!" says Rowena, now in tears.

Susie is aware that they are not close together as a family, but she can tell them one thing.

"Uh… soon," Susie replies. "I know you won't understand why I volunteered, but I can tell you that I love you both, and no matter what will happen to me, I will always be in your hearts."

Susie is in tears as well at this point. She tries to stay strong, but Kevin is really bringing her emotional and mental state down to the trenches of the world.

Before Susie's parents leave, they all have a warm group hug. Agatha and some of her ex-friends are the next to enter.

Agatha says, "Thank you so much, Susie!" She hugs Susie, but she does not respond. In fact, Susie barely or doesn't remember some of the people in Agatha's background. She became that distant ever since Kevin started "guiding" her.

"We all hope you come home," says Agatha. She hugs Susie once again, but Susie is still unresponsive.

As her ex-friends leave the room, she doesn't know whether to feel relieved or scared. They are only ex-friends instead of friends because of Kevin. She doesn't want him to harm them, so she has to lock them out of her life as much as she can.

Kevin says, _"Ah! More friends, eh?"_

Susie wipes her tears off, and then thinks, _Soon, I will be free, free from all this madness, free from this eternal darkness._

* * *

AN:

Since this is my first time to host a SYOT, I find writing this chapter more challenging than I expected. I got bored at some point while writing this, but I'll probably get used to it in the future, since reaping chapters are ways to introduce characters into the story. At the very least, I have succeeded in finishing one reaping chapter. Yay! :D

The next update will hopefully be some time this month. I'll be working on D5's reapings next.


	5. D5 Reapings: Spreading the Love

Ciara Graceanne Westley is quite famous in her home district, District 5. She has a hectic schedule, and has some fans who support her in her many activities.

"Go Ciara!" cheers Voltanna. Ciara sprints as fast as she can to finish first.

"Come on girl!" shouts her also popular best friend, Alisha Dunwatt. She watches Ciara finish the race in first place, then she shouts, "YEAH GIRL! RAHHH!"

Ciara and Alisha have many common interests since preschool. Along the way, they became the popular girls in their school due to their participation in many school-related activities.

As people crowd Ciara, she is greeted with some of her fans. She shakes hands or hugs some of them.

Filament, her last fan around, gives Ciara a hug, then he says, "You did great!"

"Thanks!" says Ciara. "See ya around!"

Filament says, "Goodbye!" with a smile before leaving.

"Bye!" Ciara replies.

Blythe finished the race as well, around some seconds ago while Ciara was greeting her fans. She goes to her bag to get something for Ciara, then approaches her when she's finally free.

"Congratulations!" Blythe says. "You deserve this." She gives Ciara a bottle of energy drink.

"Thanks!" says Ciara. "I wish this was the real competition."

They laugh, then Ciara chugs her drink. She and Blythe both hated each other when they first met, and their hate for each other worsened when they became rivals in their school's track team, but both their attitudes never stayed the same ever since they became teammates when they compete with athletes from other schools. District 5 is big enough to house a couple of schools, and the citizens here are mostly rich or middle class people.

"What are we up to now?" asks Alisha.

"Can we go to your house, Voltz?" Ciara asks.

"My parents might be home," says Voltanna. "They are not very welcoming to guests."

"It's the closest though," says Blythe, "So I don't see why not."

"Hahaha!" laughs Alisha. "I like that thinking, girl!" Blythe and Alisha hi-five.

Ciara adds, "It's okay, we can go to my house then."

"Hey, we should!" says Voltanna.

Ciara and Voltanna each have a creative and artistic side. This common trait led them to each other since they were in grade school. Sometimes in class, they would fold a sheet of paper into two and have a side each where they can draw. They will discuss a theme, then draw on their respective sides for both sides to connect. They call this art-collab.

After some time, they arrive outside Ciara's house. Ciara says, "Here we are."

They can all hear music from her house. Ciara opens the door to see most of her family members practicing.

"Hey sweetie!" greets Keliza. "Did you bring some friends over today?"

"Yes Mom," replies Ciara.

"Tell them to come in," Keliza says. "I made some peach mango pie."

As Ciara and her friends enter the house, Alisha hi-fives with every single sibling present in the living room.

"I still can't remember the names of your brothers and sisters," says Blythe.

"I'll introduce them one by one, for your sake," says Ciara.

"Do youngest to oldest this time," suggests Alisha.

"Fine," Ciara replies. She walks over to the blonde-haired, hazel-eyed little boy who's playing the trombone. "This is Castor, twelve years old." She moves to a little girl who looks almost like Castor. "This is Cindra, thirteen."

"Hi!" Cindra smiles and waves while she holds a flute on her other hand.

Ciara flips her wavy, shoulder-length, light brown hair and points to herself. She rolls her hazel eyes before saying, "Me!"

"Ahahaha!" laughs Alisha. "I should've taken a pic of your face."

Ciara sticks her tongue out and says, "Too bad for you!"

They laugh for a while before Ciara continues. She walks to two older siblings who have dark brown hair and hazel eyes. The guy holds a guitar while the girl holds a trumpet. They make a cappella sounds as Ciara introduces them. "My twin siblings, Conner and Cassandra, two years older than me."

"Wow!" says Alisha. "I never realized that they're twins."

"Oh sure we're not," says Conner sarcastically.

"Yeah, you're not!" remarks Alisha sarcastically as well.

Moving on, Ciara searches for the next sibling.

Keliza says, "Celine is not home."

"Celine, eighteen, not home," says Ciara. She then moves on to her two oldest brothers. "This is Cruz, this is Chris." They both wave like twins and say, "Hi!" in unison.

"Let me guess, you're NOT twins as well," Alisha says with so much sarcasm.

"They may be of the same height," Ciara says. "But they're not."

"How do you tell them apart?" asks Voltanna.

"Muscles!" Alisha points to Cruz.

"Eyes," Ciara says. The two brothers blink in unison. Chris has green eyes while Cruz has hazel eyes. "The same hairstyle and the blonde hair color confuses me too sometimes," admits Ciara. "Chris is exactly one year older than Cruz."

"Wow!" says Blythe. "I can't imagine the number of birthdays you celebrate per year!"

Chris makes a 'ba-dum-tss' sound with his drums. Cruz starts playing the piano, and the rest of the present family members, excluding Keliza and Ciara, continue practicing for their family orchestra. This is one of the days where most family members have a day off from the power grids. Only Cindra and Castor aren't working yet.

"Pie, kids!" calls Keliza. She comes out of the kitchen and brings three slices of pie for Ciara's three friends.

"We'll stay in the dining area," says Ciara.

As the background music plays, Ciara and her friends keep calm and eat pie, while having a small conversation.

Voltanna asks, "I'm curious as to how many kids you'll have next time."

"Awww…" says Alisha, imagining it. "I'd say twenty!"

"No, haha!" replies Ciara. "I love having a big family, and I love each of my family members in his or her own way, but I don't even know if I want to get married, because of the Hunger Games."

"Oh!" says Blythe. "I get your point."

Alisha whispers something to Voltanna, who shows Ciara a drawing of her and her future husband.

"What the…" Ciara says.

They laugh for a while, before Ciara continues to tell the tale.

"You remember the games three years ago, right?" Ciara asks.

"Was that the one with cherry bombs?" asks Voltanna.

"Yes!" says Ciara. "My neighbor, Ellen Costa, sixteen that time, was reaped. She didn't stand a chance sad to say."

"She almost made it out of the bloodbath!" says Alisha. "I remember the guy from two stole her bag after hitting her skull hard against one of those colorful trees."

"I can't remember clearly what killed the careers that year," says Blythe.

Voltanna adds, "The girl from District 1 left the pack on the first night, so the rest of the careers were hunting for her. For someone from a career district, she was more skilled with camouflage than with weapons. In fact, I think she only got a five in her private session."

"Yeah!" Alisha says. "Verse Phyton was not a typical career. She didn't go to kill random tributes. She was hiding for most of the time, only showing up to her big crush."

"Why did she volunteer again?" asks Ciara.

"She said something about stress and depression during her interviews," Voltanna says.

Alisha says, "I can't forget how ironic it was that her crush killed her."

"Oh yeah!" says Blythe. "I think she was the one who got pushed into that giant spider web?"

"Yeah! That's her," says Ciara. "Woodrow Stirling left her to die there. After all, he never wanted her."

"How old is Woodrow now?" asks Alisha.

"Twenty-one I think," Voltanna answers.

"That guy is hot!" Alisha says. "Hotter than a chili pepper crushed in your lungs."

"That's not funny, Alisha," says Blythe.

They all laugh. After finishing their respective slices of pie, they go to Ciara's room. She shares the room with her two younger siblings.

"You got an A in our last math exam!?" exclaims Alisha.

"Alisha," Voltanna says. "She gets an A in every subject."

"Yeah!" says Ciara in an unusually sassy tone.

"We all know she's smart," Blythe adds.

Voltanna inspects Ciara's book collection, while Alisha views through Ciara's sketch pad. Ciara is too busy looking for her saxophone, while Blythe looks at the pictures posted on her wall.

"When should we go hiking again?" asks Blythe.

"After the reapings tomorrow if you want," says Ciara. She continues looking for her saxophone. "There you are!"

She cleans her saxophone, then heads downstairs, where most of her family members are practicing.

"We'll watch one round," Alisha says.

"My parents might be looking for me again," Voltanna says.

As Keliza sings her own composition in a musical-esque tone, the rest of the family members play their respective musical instruments. At the end of it, Ciara's three friends clap.

"Wooo!" cheers Alisha. "We should come back here some day!"

"Yeah!" says Blythe. "We'll get going now."

"Bye!" says Ciara and the rest of her family members present.

"Bye!" says Ciara's three friends.

* * *

Filament Harmon-Fierro, or Fil for short, starts the day hearing his alarm clock ring loudly. He gets out of bed and out of his room to see his fathers holding hands with each other in the living room watching TV.

"Good morning Dad!" greets Fil. "Good morning Papa!"

"Good morning, Filly!" Henry Fierro, forty-two, greets back.

"Morning, Son!" Tad Harmon, forty, greets back too.

Fil was an accident from two teenagers. His biological father was a deadbeat dad. His mother died of illness not long after she was left all by herself. Before she died, she sent baby Filament to the orphanage, where he was adopted a week later. Little does he know about his biological parents, but all that do not matter to him. What he cares now is his present family. His parents adopted him and his siblings, and they all make a very loving family to this day. Fil is the youngest in the family, at fourteen.

"Give me a hug, son," says Tad.

Fil gives his Papa a warm hug. After all, Fil is a big fan of the warmest hugs. He hugs anyone he meets. He moves to his Dad and gives him a warm hug as well.

"Can you wake up your siblings for us?" Henry says. "We don't want to be late for the reapings."

"Okay Dad," Fil replies.

Their house isn't something one would consider poor. They may not be the richest, but they are richer than most of the people in the district. He first goes to his seventeen-year-old sister's room.

"Azalea, wake up!" says Fil, shaking her. "It's reaping day."

Azalea opens her brown eyes and shakes her hair in cornrows. She has the darkest skin in the family, because she is of African descent. She smiles, and Fil smiles too. They have a lot in common.

"I like seeing your dimples when you smile," says Fil.

"Yours too," replies Azalea.

As Azalea gets out of bed, Fil goes to his other sister's room.

"Zetta, wake up!" says Fil.

"I'm awake," says Zetta with a smile.

She pushes her blanket away, and it reveals her beautiful body and tanned skin. She then says, "I just love staying on my bed."

"I know, but today is reaping day!" Fil says.

"I don't want to go to the reapings," says Zetta with fear in her brown eyes.

"It's not that bad," says Fil optimistically. "It's going to be your fifth time anyway."

"Filly, you know I'm still scared of the reapings," Zetta replies.

"It's okay," says Fil. "A lot of people are scared too, but if we look on the bright side, we get a free trip to the Capitol."

Zetta smiles and says, "Oh Filly, I love how you're trying to cheer me up."

Fil smiles as Zetta gets up from her bed. She finger-combs her curly jet black hair, then he moves on to his next sibling. However, he sees his other two siblings getting prepared already.

"Good morning!" Fil greets them.

"Good morning, Filly!" Ansel and Baylor both greet back.

Fil looks at Ansel's messy black hair, then to his brown eyes. Their eyes meet, so they smile at each other. Fil then turns to Baylor, still with his smile on. Ansel is twenty-one, while Baylor is nineteen. They are much happier now that they have learned about their true identities. Ansel learned that he is bisexual when he was eighteen, and his loving family is very accepting to his current identity. They all had a donut party to celebrate this moment of his life, and this was Fil's favorite memory of his eldest brother. Fil also remembers that Baylor was the least happiest during Ansel's donut party, but he had his transurgery a week after that, and became happier ever since. Baylor always cuts his hair short, so everyone in the family knew what he wanted at that time.

Fil returns to his room to change. He takes a pair of khaki dress pants and a long-sleeved off-white dress shirt from his wardrobe. After changing, he looks at the mirror. He flips his shaggy reddish copper hair before his brown eyes is able to look at his whole reflection. He looks at his freckled face, then to his dress shirt which fits him just right. He smiles to his reflection, and a gap between his two front teeth is revealed.

He goes to the dining room for breakfast. At the kitchen, he sees his fathers preparing his breakfast. He can smell bacon and eggs from his seat on the dining area. He tries to sit still and wait patiently, but he can't not interact with people at any moment, so he goes outside to check for mail. He sees the mailman drop a letter by to their mailbox. He's excited to find out whether it's from his pen pal, Mace Tholberg, or not.

He met Mace on their first reaping. They were side by side on the 12-year-old section, and he started socializing with Mace from there. Since they both live on opposite sides of the district, they only meet during the reapings, and they only keep in touch by writing to each other. Emails exist at this time and place, but the government usually fills the Internet with viruses. Only the Capitol and Districts 1 and 2 are free of those, and then there's District 3 where most people know how to fix computer viruses. Panem has been better ever since the end of the Snow Dynasty, but there are still some things the government controls strictly.

Fil goes back to his room after learning about the latest mail from Mace. He opens the envelope, and the first thing he sees is a drawing of a mountain. He loves it! He then reads the mail he just received.

 _Dear Filly,_

 _I am looking forward to see you again at this year's reapings. I am still scared of the reapings, and I can not forget the day I met you on our first reaping. Who knew the insane factory worker would volunteer for me that year? I still have the teddy bear you gave me when we met, and I thought it would become my token._

 _This week, I have drawn you a mountain, to symbolize our strength and growing relationship as pen pals. Whatever happens to us, we will rise together by helping each other out, in the best way we can. :)_

 _I am missing your presence already, so I hope you come to the plaza early on reaping day._

 _Hope to see you soon,_

 _Mace_

Fil wipes off a tear. He misses Mace too, and he can never forget how Mace was reaped. He was lucky that year had an insane volunteer, but nobody expected that plot twist. Too bad Karamino Tahotta didn't win that year. Fil and Mace were rooting for him.

He places the drawing of the mountain on the bulletin board. He then takes out one of the older drawings, which is a decorative vase, and places it in a drawer with the rest of the old drawings from Mace which he's been receiving for the past two years. He then puts his most recent mail on the drawer next to the drawer of the old drawings.

"Breakfast is ready!" calls Henry.

"Coming, Dad!" replies Fil.

He makes it to the dining area, and his siblings arrive too one by one.

"Bacon!" says Baylor. "Yes!"

Tad serves hot chocolate to his five children.

"Yes, hot chocolate!" says Baylor.

"I wish we're having donuts instead," Ansel says.

"We can have donuts tomorrow," Henry says.

"I'm good with bacon and eggs," says Zetta.

"I love bacon and eggs!" says Fil. "And I love hot chocolate more! Thank you Papa, Thank you Dad."

He gives his fathers a warm hug each, and the whole family eats breakfast happily. Zetta is still worried about being reaped, but everyone tries to cheer her up, especially Fil. When everyone finished, they are ready to leave. Fil puts on his black bowtie and wears his brown dress shoes. Henry gives each and every one of them a hug and a kiss before they all leave for the reapings. Tad and Henry hold their hands proudly, while Fil meets up with one of his best friends.

"Hey Filly!" greets Rune Bellomi.

"Good morning, Rune!" greets Fil.

Fil knew Rune since they were in kindergarten. Fil started the talking, and they became friends in no time. Rune is the shy but sweet type of person, but he opens up to Fil very often.

"Give me a hug, buddy!" says Rune.

Fil and Rune exchange warm hugs with each other, and they walk to the plaza while holding each other's hands. No, they aren't in a relationship, they're just very close friends, and it's their norm to be platonically affectionate with each other.

Fil looks into Rune's neat brown hair and pretty green eyes before saying, "So how's life?"

Rune replies, "It's fine. You?"

"I'm excited to meet a friend today!"

"Sounds nice."

They smile at each other, then another friend joins them. He has olive skin, dark hair, and brown eyes.

Doyle Selmone greets, "Yo guys!

"Good morning Doyle!" greets Fil.

"Hey Doyle!" greets Rune.

Fil and Doyle are best friends, even though they don't have the same ideology with love and kindness. The boys chat while moving to the plaza. Henry gives Fil some money for them to enjoy some chocolate before the reapings begin.

"My favorite is white chocolate," says Rune.

"Too bad, I like dark chocolate the most," Doyle says aggressively.

"Well, we can all get different flavors," says Fil. "I prefer milk chocolate."

As Fil buys the three of them chocolate, he sees a kid crying. She probably looks like a twelve-year-old heading into the reapings for the first time.

"Hey Filly!" calls Rhianna Marinov.

"Hi Rhianna!" greets back Fil. "Is that your sister?"

"Yeah," says Rhianna. "I didn't expect her to be as nervous as I was last year."

"Don't worry, everyone is nervous on their first reapings," Fil says with a smile.

Fil proceeds to buy a mint chocolate bar to Rhianna's little sister. He gives it to her, then gives her a hug.

"Don't be afraid, sweetie," Fil cheers up. "Everything will be alright."

Doyle and Rune are talking as they enjoy their chocolate bars. Rhianna stares into Doyle for a while, then she turns her attention to her sister, who's now smiling from Fil's treat.

"Thank you Filly!" says Rhianna. "I knew you're the best when it comes to this."

Fil smiles then says, "My pleasure."

It's normal for Fil to make so many friends along the way. He met this brown-skinned, brown-eyed, black-haired girl because he is sociable, and also because she is one of Doyle's best friends. Fil and Rhianna became very close friends ever since they met from there.

The two reunite with Rune and Doyle, while Rhianna's little sister tags along. After some chatting, they decide it's time to register.

"Don't be afraid," Fil smiles to Rhianna's little sister. "Stay strong."

She nods, then Rhianna gives Fil a reassuring smile. Upon finishing the registration, Fil looks for Mace at the same section as he is supposed to be in. Doyle and Rune follow him, while Rhianna and her sister make their ways to the female thirteen- and twelve-year-old sections respectively.

"Mace!" calls Fil.

Mace looks back and says, "Oh Filly!"

They exchange hugs, and Fil introduces Mace to Doyle and Rune, and vice versa. Mace is a pale-skinned kid with eyeglasses.

"I'm so glad to see you again, Filly!" Mace says excitedly.

They hug again, then Fil says, "I miss you so much!"

The escort then walks to stage with fashion. She wears a glowing royal blue dress and has sparkling blue tattoo on her legs. She seems fit and wears a blue afro wig. As she reaches the microphone, her makeup is revealed, and it matches her horrifyingly wrinkled face.

Her elderly voice speaks, "Hello District 5! As you all know, my name is Vivianelli Vanillanillan, or Vi for short." She winks as if she's flirting, but her age just attracts no men. She's actually younger than she looks though.

Vi has been showing the same video since it was first shown, and she's been escorting for that long as well. The video finishes, and she says, "Let's move it! Girls first as always."

She puts her big hand on the bowl full of pink papers. She manages to grab many sheets out, but only one remained in her hand as she drops the rest on the floor purposefully.

"Ciara Graceanne Westley," Vi reads aloud.

A girl of German descent with an average height from the fifteen-year-old section reacts with a loud gasp out of shock. She is wearing a light blue shirt and a pair of ripped jeans. She walks to the stage angrily, thumping loudly every step as she holds her other emotions.

As Ciara makes it to the stage, Vi is already on the other side spilling pieces of paper from the bowl to reap the boy's name.

"Filament Harmon-Fierro," Vi reads aloud.

Upon the realization of this short and skinny boy's name being called, everyone nearby looks at him. He lets go of Rune's and Mace's hands and walks to the stage. He tries to stay positive of the situation, but he's already sobbing softly as he makes it to the stage. From the back, his brothers are yelling.

"FILLY!" shouts Ansel.

"FILAMENT!" shouts Baylor.

The peacekeepers hold them back. The homophobic one says, "Don't worry gays, you'll meet him later, even though you actually deserve to die." He then does an evil laugh while Fil's brothers are desperate in saving him.

Vi announces, "District 5, your lovely and loving tributes this year!"

Fil turns to Ciara's direction, and Ciara's fiery eyes meet Fil's teary ones. They know each other since they are schoolmates.

* * *

Ciara waits for her family to come in. Her face shows that she is angry, but she shakes her head for being upset in the current situation. There's nothing she can do about it.

Kenton, her father, opens the door and the rest of her family comes in. He starts by saying, "Ciara, please come back home."

"You can do it, sis!" says Chris.

"Yeah, we all believe in you!" Cruz adds.

Keliza wipes some tears off her face and says, "I don't want to lose my scholar."

"Scholar?" questions Ciara.

"We received a letter just this morning inviting you to the University of Panem in the Capitol," Kenton says.

"We were gonna tell you once we get home," Celine says while crying aloud. "But we might not see you again."

Most of the family members are teary. Keliza hugs Ciara first, then the rest of the family crowds to her for a group hug.

"We'll miss you, my baby," Keliza says tearily. "But please come home. We need you."

"Our family band is not complete without our saxophone player," Chris says.

"Ciara, please take this with you," says Keliza. She takes out a shiny teal guitar pick and then she hands it to Ciara. "It will serve as a good luck charm, because with this, we want you to remember that we are all here rooting for you to win. We want to see you come back home."

Keliza wipes her tears while Ciara looks at the guitar pick before keeping it in her pocket.

"I'll do my best," Ciara says. "I don't want to let any of you down."

Her family members all hug her one last time and say their last farewells before Ciara's friends come in.

Alisha hugs Ciara tightly and says, "I will miss you for sure, but don't let me miss you forever. You're a fighter!"

Blythe says, "You have an advantage because you're athletic. Don't let them catch up to you!"

Ciara says, "I know, I will do my best to make it back!"

Voltanna hugs Ciara right after Alisha finished hugging the latter.

"We all know you have the skills and strategy to win, so please make us proud," Voltanna says tearily.

"I won't disappoint any of you," Ciara says. "And I will not just say it, I will show it."

When Voltanna lets go of a really long hug, Ciara went to Blythe to hug her too.

"We need you, Ciara," Blythe whispers. "Don't let us down."

"I won't," Ciara whispers back.

"Good luck!" Alisha says. "I will see you on TV."

"Haha!" says Ciara. "Thanks!"

"Good luck!" Blythe and Voltanna say. Voltanna then hugs Ciara tightly one last time.

"Thanks!" Ciara says. She returns Voltanna's tight hug.

Her friends leave afterwards. Alisha and Blythe have to pull out and carry the desperate and teary Voltanna out before the peacekeepers do it for them. The door closes, and Ciara feels a little relieved than she was earlier. She lets out a sigh of relief and shakes off the tension for now.

 _I have to win to get my scholarship,_ she thinks sadly. _Maybe I should have a training strategy soon._

* * *

Fil keeps wiping his tears away. His whole family comes in to visit him. His fathers both hug him first, and then he returns the tight hug to both of them. Henry starts getting teary while Tad wears a frown.

"Filly, I love you," said Henry as he hugs him tighter while being teary.

Tad says, "Your dad and I love you so much."

"I love you two too," Fil replies tearily.

"Don't lose hope," Henry says. "We've seen younger tributes win after the Mockingjay Rebellion."

"Do you remember Larry Rockenstein from the One Hundred and Sixteenth Hunger Games?" says Tad. "He won at the age of thirteen."

"And look at him now!" Henry adds.

"Robert Royce was twelve when he won his games, and he got a one for his private training!" Tad adds.

Henry says, "Everybody thought he was gonna be the first to die, but the boiling pot cornucopia turned the tables to his favor."

Tad adds, "Of course, no one can forget Kylene Roa, the youngest victor ever."

Henry comments, "That quarter quell was a horrible one, but she was the last one standing at the age of ten."

"There's hope, Filly," Tad says. "So please, come back home."

While wiping off his tears, Filly nods in a frightened manner. His siblings approach him next.

Baylor hugs him and says, "Filly, we need you to come back home."

"Home is not the same without you," says Ansel while crying.

Ansel goes to Fil to hug him as well then says, "Please come back."

"I'll try," says Fil, with tears flowing smoothly on his face.

Azalea and Zetta both hug Fil. They both try to cheer him up, and it seems to work.

"We love you, Filly," says Azalea.

"We will miss you," Zetta adds tearily.

The whole family also does a group hug for Fil. Each family member tells his or her last farewell to Fil. Doyle, Rune, and Rhianna come after that. Each of them gives Fil a tight hug. Doyle is the last one to hug Fil, and he breaks down in the process.

"FIL! YOU HAVE TO COME BACK!" Dolye says. "MY LIFE WILL NEVER BE THE SAME WITHOUT YOU! PLEASE COME HOME, FIL!"

"I-I-I-I'll try," Fil stammers.

"NO!" Doyle reacts. "YOU HAVE TO, PLEASE!"

Rune and Rhianna say, "Good luck, Filly!"

Rhianna adds, "I know this is hard for you, but can you promise us to come home?"

"I-I-I-I'll try," Fil stammers once more.

"Stay positive like you usually are!" Rune advises. "You need that strength to keep going."

Fil smiles from that tip. Rune and Rhianna say their last farewells to Fil. Fil gives both of them a kiss on the forehead. Doyle tries to calm down, and Fil gives him a forehead kiss too, then he tells Fil his last farewell too.

"Good luck, Fil," Doyle says tearily.

"Thank you," Fil replies while hugging him one last time.

As the three of them leave, Fil waits for the next visitor. No one comes for a while, but Mace enters before Fil's time is up. They both hug.

"Sorry I took so long," Mace says. "I want to give this to you."

Mace hands Fil a drawing on a small sheet of paper. It's a drawing of a meadow full of flowers. Mace wipes off his tears and says, "Let this remind you of home."

As they hold each other's hands one last time before Fil leaves, they look at each other's teary eyes one last time. Before the peacekeeper pulls out Fil due to the time being up, Fil gives Mace a forehead kiss.

"Stay strong, and good luck!" Mace says.

"I will! Thank you." Fil says as he is being pulled away.

* * *

AN:

I know I owe this to all my readers. I'm very sorry for the extreme delay. :( I don't plan to quit the story anytime soon, even though I have difficulties finishing this by my personal deadline.

Please give constructive criticisms when you can. I'm new to this, so I need some kind of guide one way or another. Also, I owe two readers something, so if you're one of them, please wait a while. :)

I will work on D10 next, and hopefully the wait won't be as long as this one's. A little warning: I received multiple submissions for D10, so there's a chance that I will move the runner-up tribute/s to the back-up district/s.


	6. D10 Reapings: Fast and Furious

Arlenna Winnie Scott ties her straight brown hair, which is supposed to fall all the way to her hips.

"Ready?" Frieda asks.

"Ready," replies Arlenna.

"On your marks," Addy says. "Get set, go!"

As Addy puts her hand down, best friends and teammates Frieda and Arlenna sprint from the starting line.

"I'm not gonna let you win this," Frieda says with a chuckle.

"Take your time," Arlenna replies.

They both make it to the finish line, and Frieda wins this round. Arlenna high fives with her twelve-year-old friend.

"Great work!" says Arlenna.

"Thanks," Frieda says. "You did great too!"

Arlenna replies, "I guess so."

Lianna says, "What do you mean you guess so!? I wish I could run as fast as any of you. I'll need that skill if I would ever be reaped."

"Oh yeah!" realizes Frieda. "It's that time of the year again. What should I be expecting?"

"You just go there, and watch some history," Addy says. "Chances are, you won't be picked."

"How do you even know that you won't be picked?" asks Lianna.

"Arlenna and I just started last year," Addy answers. "Our names have only been entered twice this year. What more with Frieda?"

"There's still a chance though," Arlenna says. "Remember the last quarter quell? Everybody who was qualified only had their names entered once, yet the reaped tributes that year were selected to fight to their deaths."

"That was a quarter quell," Addy says. "We're talking about a normal year."

"But isn't the concept the same?" asks Frieda.

"Why are we talking about something that can wait until tomorrow?" Lianna asks.

They all stare in silence. Addy breaks it by saying, "I got a C plus on our last history exam."

Lianna says, "I got B minus."

Frieda and Arlenna both stare each other in silence.

"B plus," Frieda says.

Arlenna says, "A."

"I would've called you Asian if you were one," Addy jokes, and they all laugh. After some more chatting, they all decide to go home.

"See you in the reapings tomorrow!" Addy tells everyone.

"See ya!" replies Lianna.

"Goodbye!" Frieda and Arlenna say in unison.

As they part ways, Arlenna jogs to her house. It is bigger than usual, and it doesn't look impoverished in any way. After some time, she makes it home to see her nine-year-old sister, Larisa, chatting on the phone.

"Oh my gosh!" Larisa says. "Will I get to see Kylene tomorrow!?"

Arlenna thinks of how famous Kylene Roa has become ever since she was reaped on the last quarter quell. She has become the district's idol for being the youngest victor ever. Arlenna cringes at the thought of being idolized, but she is thankful that it's not her, it's Kylene.

"I'm excited to see her again!" Larisa says. "Hihihi!"

Most mentors hide in the train during the whole reaping, but Kylene is too idolized to be able to hide in the train. She's always convinced to go out and watch the next representatives of District Ten be selected.

Arlenna goes to her room and changes from her sporty attire. She now wears a T-shirt with a jean vest on top, while retaining her sport shorts below. She gets her sewing kit to continue sewing the small sheet of cloth she's been sewing since yesterday. She takes a look outside to see her parents managing the ranch. As she takes this time of peace to do one of her favorite hobbies, she analyzes the pattern carefully.

 _I think it's symmetrical,_ Arlenna thinks.

After a while, she peeks outside once again, and she sees a boy arguing with her parents. She opens her window a bit to eavesdrop.

"Life is not fair!" the boy says. "You get to own a ranch, and we don't! How does life choose who gets to be rich or not!?"

Arlenna thinks, _It's that Bridger boy again. Does he always have to be like that? Why can't he just leave my parents in peace?_

Arlenna's mother, Fay, gives the boy his salary fairly, despite his treatment to her and her husband.

"Thanks, rich kids!" says the boy with some sarcasm.

Fay sighs, while her husband, Gordon, shakes his head in disappointment.

"What did his parents teach him?" Gordon questions with a hint of anger.

Arlenna continues to sew. She then has a sudden desire of wanting a new color for her thread, so she goes down and jogs to her family's ranch.

"Yes sweetie?" Fay greets nicely.

"Mom, I want an orange thread for my sewing kit."

"Sure sweetie, but please help us with the cows first."

"Alright mom."

She helps her parents by milking the cows. Fay is feeding the horses while Gordon is feeding the goats. When Arlenna is finished, she watches the sunset. Her parents are too busy to do the same, but she waits patiently for them to finish.

Once they are all done, they see Larisa still on the sofa chatting with her friend.

"Oh yes! Go do that to him," she remarks sarcastically.

"Mom," Arlenna calls.

"Yes sweetie?"

"Can I have it now?"

"Oh sure! Let me just get it."

As she waits for her mom to get the orange thread that she wants, she tries to piece her sister's current phone conversation.

 _She's four years younger than me, and yet she's talking about her best friend's boyfriend!?_ Arlenna thinks.

"And then you're gonna kiss your teddy bear, thinking that it's him," Larisa says.

Before she is able to analyze more out of boredom, her mom hands her the orange thread.

"Here you go, sweetie!"

"Thanks mom!"

Arlenna returns to her room to continue sewing, while her mom prepares for dinner.

* * *

Kobe Bridger wakes up from the noise of his two younger sisters having a pillow fight.

Zaina says, "You can't hit me!"

Anahi coughs aloud, then replies with, "Take this!"

Anahi hits Zaina softly with the pillow.

"Can you two shut the fuck up!" Kobe yells. "I'm trying to rest."

Her two sisters gasp in surprise.

"Bad word, big brother!" Zaina says.

"What did Mom say about your language?" adds Anahi.

"I'm thirteen, and Dad allowed me to talk like this!" Kobe replies.

"But Mom tells you to watch your language," Anahi says in a worrisome tone.

Zaina hits Anahi with a pillow, and her sisters continue playing. Kobe is about to say something, but he doesn't want to debate with her sister. It's too easy for him.

Kobe looks at the clock to realize that he just has about enough, if not less, time to prepare for the reapings. He goes to his closet to get a random pair of pants. He doesn't have to change his shirt, because they're all relatively dark in color.

After changing, he announces to his sisters, "Girls, I'm leaving for the reapings."

Zaina stares at him and says, "What is the reapings?"

"It's when they send teenagers to go to the Hunger Games," Anahi answers. She covers her mouth as she coughs after answering Zaina.

"What is the Hunger Games?" Zaina asks.

"It's where people die!" Kobe answers angrily. "The Capitol is rich and unfair, and they deserve to die, not us! We should be living in a community where everybody is equal. I don't want to live with rich people like my bosses. They gave me so little for a salary!"

Anahi says, "Kobe, calm down."

"Shut up, Anahi! You're just ten, you know nothing! Look at Zaina, she's just eight, and what does she even know about the Hunger Games!?"

"Kobe…"

"I'm leaving! I'll be back in an hour or so."

He slams the door with the thought of the Hunger Games. _This is so unfair!_

Not long after, he sees his mom on the way home from work.

"Kobe, wait for me," Rissa says. "Don't go alone, it's too dangerous."

"I'm just going to Zaire's house."

"Oh, can you wait for me?"

His mom enters the house, without waiting for his reply. He walks some steps ahead to the plaza, and he sees a bunch of bigger and older boys talking about their society class lesson.

"I think communism is where everyone is equal," says one of them.

"I heard communism!" Kobe exclaims.

The boys look at him, and Kobe continues, "Communism is where everybody is equal, no rich people, no poor people. Equal! Nobody has ownership rights, and everybody has enough food and shelter to live with. Nobody has to suffer in a world like this! Everybody NEEDS to be equal!"

The boys are stunned from his sudden opinion. Some look disgusted, while others have a poker face. One is grumpy, and he told Kobe, "Shoo! Mind your own business."

"Did you just tell me to shut the fuck up!? If you are, you deserve this!"

Kobe punches the guy in the face. The guy is about to return the punch, but his friends just move him away and stop him from continuing a fight.

"Yeah that's right!" Kobe says. "Go away, shoo! Next time, you should shut the fuck up, not me!"

Only inaudible words can be heard coming from the boy's mouth. He and his friends are too far from Kobe now. Rissa shows up behind Kobe.

"Did you get yourself into a fight again?" asks Rissa worriedly.

Kobe stammers and tries to put his words together.

"Kobe, how many times do I have to tell you to be polite to people older than you, and how many times should I tell you to mind your own business?"

Rissa says it in such a calm and worrisome voice, but Kobe ignores it and just nods. Rissa sighs from this.

They pass by Zaire's house eventually. Zaire and Kobe start talking, while their moms are on a different conversation.

"I can't believe I'm doing this for seven times in my whole life," Kobe says. "Why doesn't the Capitol have to do this!? They should involve themselves into a death match like this!"

"Is there anything I should expect?" Zaire asks.

"For a first-timer, nothing really. The chances of you being picked is too small it won't even matter."

"Uh… okay then."

"I have to take tesserae, twelve times!"

"Whoa!"

"Anyway, where was I? Ah! You know those so-called career idiots, they deserve to die! Why do they have to do this!? Why can't they just live their own lives and not mind about the Hunger Games!? They're rich, and they have the advantage! Why does life have to be so unfair!? It's so fucking unfair!"

"Kobe!" Rissa calls his attention. "Watch your language, little boy."

"Mom! How many times do I have to tell you not to call me a little boy!? I feel belittled, and I HATE IT!"

Rissa sighs and shakes her head, then she continues her conversation with Zaire's mother. They reach the plaza, and both Zaire and Kobe register themselves in. There's no queue at this time, because they are a bit late.

The video being shown is already halfway done. By the time it's finished, the dark-skinned escort with Asian-esque eyes who is wearing a black tight suit walks to the girls' reaping bowl in a fast and serious manner.

A lady with a cowgirl hat and in a blue dress walks to the microphone. She has hazel eyes and straight brown hair, with a few freckles on her face. She starts, "Right now, our new escort, Leilah Yat, will be drawing a name from the girls' bowl." She blinks her eyes and closes them for a short while. She lets out a sigh that is audible from the mic. She covers her mouth in surprise, and when she looks back, Leilah already has the sheet of paper with the name of the reaped girl's name. It's gripped between her middle finger and index finger.

Kylene reads, "Our female tribute this year could be - Arlenna Winnie Scott. Please don't be afraid." She twiddles with her fingers, waiting for Arlenna to come out. Not long after, an almost-pale-skinned girl taller than a typical thirteen-year-old with long brown hair walks to the stage from her section.

 _I wanna run, I should've run,_ Arlenna thinks.

As the girl wearing a light pink dress and black sandals is nervously making her way to the stage, she tries to blink away the tears from her blue eyes. Leilah randomly picks a slip from the boys' bowl and walks fast to the center of the stage, where Kylene will assist her with the speaking again.

"Our male tribute this year could be - Kobe Bridger. Please don't…"

A pale, thin, short, and underweight boy with shaggy black hair shouts aloud and yells, "Fuck you!"

Kylene shakes in fear as her eyes are left wide open. She hears the boy from the thirteen-year-old section mumble inaudible words while seeing him stomp angrily to the stage. He points at the escort, but Kylene seems to react as if he was pointing to her.

"A BIG FUCK YOU FOR PICKING ME!" Kobe shouts while flashing his middle finger to her. "THANK YOU SO MUCH!"

There are a lot of inaudible reactions from the crowd. Kobe's teary blue eyes glares at the escort angrily, and the escort's eyes go smaller as she glares back at him. They make eye contact, and Kylene runs away from the scene, but she trips in the process, showing her sparkling light blue high heels. A guy in a formal attire helps out Kylene, and they move away from the escort. Kobe is about to jump to Leilah, but the peacekeepers hold him back in the nick of time.

"FUCK YOU! I HATE YOU! I HAAATE YOOOUUU SO MUCH! I WISH YOU - MMMMM!" One of the peacekeepers covers Kobe's mouth before anything else worse comes out from it. Kylene nervously moves forward to the mic.

"D-district Ten, l-let us s-s-support our t-tributes this year, n-n-n-no matter wh-what!" Kylene stammers anxiously, followed by an attempt to smile.

Arlenna looks at the Kobe, who is still struggling with the peacekeepers.

 _This is gonna look dramatic on any replay of this,_ Arlenna thinks.

* * *

As Arlenna wipes her tears endlessly, her family comes in to visit her first.

"Sweetie, please come home," Fay says tearily.

"I'll try my best," Arlenna says as she wipes off the tears from her eyes.

They take some time to hug, as they both try to comfort themselves.

"Good luck, dear," Gordon says monotonously. Arlenna hugs him too, but says nothing else.

Larisa's loud crying becomes even louder when she made eye contact with Arlenna, so the latter approaches the former for a hug as well.

"I will miss you, sis. Please come home."

"I will try to. I'll try my best."

They wipe each other's tears, then Larisa removes the purple hair bow from her hair.

"This is for you, sis. Please take this as your token."

Arlenna accepts what Larisa just gave her. "Thank you, sis. I will miss you so much."

The make audible cries once again, and they wipe each other's tears again too. Everybody in the family got to say their final words to each other before Arlenna's friends come in.

Addy says, "You can do it, girl!"

"We believe in you," Frieda says as she drops a few tears. "We know you can do it."

"I don't want to lie," says Arlenna. "So I guess I'll try, I'll try my best."

"On the bright side, you get to work with Kylene!" Addy says.

"I'm so envious of you getting to meet Kylene later," Lianna says.

"Then you should've volunteered!" Addy jokes.

They all laugh. Arlenna's friends continue to lift up her spirit.

"Did you see Kylene's face when the boy pointed at our new mute escort? It was hilarious!" Addy says.

Arlenna, who's no longer crying, says, "I saw it! That boy works for our ranch, and he's really like that."

"I wonder how you'll get along," Frieda says.

"They don't have to," Lianna says. "Abraham will deal with him, while Kylene will deal with our friend here."

"Oh my gosh, Abraham!" says Addy. "He also had a funny face when he helped Kylene get up."

Lianna says, "That boy though. What do you know about him?"

Arlenna replies, "Well, let's say he's not rich, so we got him a job to help him, but he always complains on how rich a lot of people are, on how he hates the games so much. He is extremely opinionated, and picking a fight with him is one of the last things I would do."

"Oh my gosh!" says Addy. "And he's what, thirteen!?"

"I know right!?" Lianna says.

The peacekeeper gives a signaling knock on the door, meaning that it is almost time.

"We'll get going now," Addy says.

"We wish you good luck!" Frieda says.

Each of Arlenna's friends hug her one last time before they leave. At least she's in a better mood now.

* * *

Zaire comes in first, and says, "I want to wish you luck, buddy."

After Kobe wipes his tears of anger away, he does his friendship handshake with Zaire.

"I wonder what it's like in the Capitol," Zaire wonders.

"I know it's rich and fancy, and I hate it! Equality must be for all."

"Just stay true to yourself in the chariots and in the interviews."

"I know what I'm doing. I will show those careers who's the boss! I will show them that even if I'm a small kid from District Ten, I can kill them! Oh I hate them SO MUCH!"

Zaire stays silent for a while.

"Thanks for coming by the way. I don't think any of my other friends are coming. Have you seen my Mom?"

"She went to get your father and your sisters. I'm pretty sure she didn't expect you to be reaped, and I'm pretty sure she didn't see that outrage coming as well."

"She would've lectured me for it, but I guess she won't this time around."

They chat some more until Zaire sees the rest of Kobe's family coming.

"I guess it's time, buddy," Zaire says. "I wish you the best of luck."

They do their friendship handshake once more, then Zaire exits as Kobe's family enters. Anahi and Rissa both cry in the background while Zaina looks confused on the events.

Aven approaches Kobe first and says, "Son, you have to show them who you really are. Do not be afraid of your opinions, whether they are common or unpopular."

"Yes Dad, I promise. I will show them who I really am. I will make them remember me."

"This is why I'm so proud of my boy." Aven rubs Kobe's head and pats his back. Rissa wants to say something, but it is not compatible with Aven's opinion, so she says something else.

She shakes her head and says, "Kobe, please do your best to come home."

As she and Anahi wipes off some tears, Kobe says, "I will! I will not disappoint any of you."

While Rissa continues crying, she tells Anahi and Zaina, "Girls, this might be the last time you will see your brother."

Kobe's sisters say nothing. Anahi just gives Kobe a hug, and then Zaina follows.

Zaina then asks, "What is happening, big brother?"

"I will be on vacation to the Capitol." _Should I tell her that I am fighting for my life?_

"Cool! Can you take a few pictures when you come back."

"I will, IF I come back."

"Yay! When will you come back?"

"I don't know yet."

"Oh, okay. Please come back soon."

 _I will,_ Kobe thinks, but can not say. He just gives Zaina one big hug. Anahi doesn't know what to say, but Kobe also gives her a big hug.

They all say their last farewells before his parents and sisters leave.

The peacekeeper comes in and tells him, "Alright kid, let's move to the train, now!"

"FUCK YOU!"

Three more peacekeepers come in, and the head says, "Kid, don't let us do it the hard way. We don't want to do it the Snow way."

"FUCK ALL OF YOU AND YOUR FAMILIES! FUCK THE SNOWS, FUCK THE CAPITOL!"

One of the peacekeepers takes out a dart gun, and not long after, Kobe is brought to the train unconsciously.

* * *

AN:

Well, that was fun to write. Since I'm on a break from school, I don't have much of a life, so I am able to get this chapter out, but I don't think I got it out fast enough, because I was a bit unmotivated sometimes, and I get distracted from my other fandoms too. Nevertheless, I got this chapter out less than a week after my last update! :D

I plan to do District 2 next (warning: multiple submissions received), and then two out of four of the stunt people as an intermission chapter. I have to ask my readers though: Is having an intermission chapter once after four reaping chapters a good idea, or do you want all twelve reaping chapters released first before I write about the stunt people? Please let me know, otherwise I'll stick with my original plan. Hopefully, I'll have the chapter out this week, because trimestral breaks are short, and I'll be back to school next week.

That's all for now! I hope you enjoyed this. :)


	7. D2 Reapings: Hot and Cold

Rufus Cornelii sits in the corner of the training center, cutting the edges of his fingernails for them to have spiky edges.

"Rufus, they'll be announcing the chosen volunteers soon." calls his brother Julius, seventeen, who wears an eye patch.

Rufus turns his head to the right in order to look back. His brother can see the burnt side of his face from that angle. Rufus says, "I'll be there in a while." He narrows his eyes upon realizing that it's time. He finishes cutting all his fingernails into spiky edges and heads to the training center's meeting hall. He meets up with his brother.

Head Trainer Eva Forester finishes the speech she's been recycling for years. She raises her right hand and says, "On my right hand is the envelope containing the name of the female tribute which will represent District Two for the One Hundred and Fortieth Hunger Games."

She takes out the card from the envelope and continues, "The female tribute chosen to represent District Two this year is…"

Julius whispers to Rufus, "Brenna O'Hare."

"Brenna O'Hare!" reads Eva. "Congratulations! Please come up the stage."

A short and slightly tanned girl goes in front to the stage. The other people give her a round of applause.

Brenna fixes her blonde hair, while Eva continues, "The male tribute chosen to represent District Two this year is…"

Julius whispers to Rufus, "Blasius Warner."

Eva takes out the card and reads, "Blasius Warner."

A loud applause comes from the middle of the room. People shout in celebration.

"Congratulations! Please come up the stage."

A tall muscular guy with fair skin comes up the stage.

"District Two, let us give our representatives one last round of applause!" Eva ends.

The one last round of applause comes, and a lot of people crowd the chosen representatives.

Julius says, "Well, the training center doesn't select twelve-year-olds to represent District Two, so I wonder how you'll volunteer tomorrow."

"It's simple. I have a plan, and all you have to do is help me out."

"Okay."

"Also, they selected twelve-year-olds for the last quarter quell. It's such a shame I wasn't born that time. Those losers only made District Ten proud."

"That year's hunger games made people cringe."

"As I was saying, I have a plan."

"I support you, bro."

Rufus whispers to Julian. Fast forwarding to a few hours later, the setting changes, and everyone in the training center is in Blasius's dinner party at a ballroom. People are in formal attire, and the waiters are already serving the desserts.

Rufus tells Julius, "I'll go to the washroom now."

Julius nods, then he looks at the direction of the washroom to see Blasius entering it. Not long after, Rufus enters the washroom too.

Rufus looks around to hear Blasius cursing on one of the cubicles.

 _I thought he'd just be peeing, but this is way easier than I thought,_ Rufus thinks.

He takes the oil burner placed by the sink and spills the fragrance oil on the floor outside Blasius's cubicle. Rufus takes out a match from his matchbox, and lights it up. He throws the lit matchstick to the fragrance oil, and fire starts to spread.

 _But it is not enough!_ Rufus thinks.

He takes out two small bottles of liquid, one containing cooking oil, and the other containing isopropyl alcohol. He throws them into the fiery pool of fragrance pool, and he leaves the bathroom immediately. He goes back to his seat, then kicks his brother's foot below the table as a signal.

Julius is having a conversation with his friend sitting beside him. He interrupts it by saying, "Wait, I need to go to the washroom."

"I'll go with you," his friend says.

Rufus watches the act, and after entering the bathroom, his friend runs out and shouts, "FIRE! FIRE!"

A lot of people stand up from their seats, and Julius comes out shouting the same thing.

Rufus thinks, _I assume he added more oil as I told him to. It's time to go._

As everybody panics out of the ballroom in the hotel, Blasius's sister, who's about Rufus's age, goes around panicking.

"HAVE YOU SEE MY BIG BROTHER!?" she shouts.

People shake their heads or reply 'no' as they pass by her. Someone of authority tries to go to the washroom, but it is somehow locked.

"Help!" a faint voice shouts from the washroom area. "Help me!"

Blasius's sister recognizes the voice and tries to open the washroom door.

"I already called the firefighters," says the waiter to the man of authority.

"Alright, now help me open this door," he says. "Or can you call the janitor?"

Meanwhile outside the hotel, Rufus and Julius, as well as a lot of other people, can hear the sirens of fire trucks approaching the hotel. The firefighters go inside the hotel, but they can't open the bathroom door.

One hour later, a semi-burned Blasius is brought into an ambulance. Almost everybody has a face of shock or horror.

 _He honestly could've used the bidet,_ Rufus thinks. _I'm glad he's too stupid for that._

Blasius's sister breaks down at the hotel door.

"Everything's gonna be alright, Lucy," one of her friends say.

Another friend pats her back and gives her a hug. After some time, Lucy meets Rufus's eyes. Rufus makes a menacing smile as Lucy glares at him.

 _Ah, she knows! Well, I'm not surprised. People my age know me well, very well._ Rufus smiles wider with this thought in mind.

Lucy looks away from him as she is still being comforted by friends.

* * *

"Brenna O'Hare, it's your big day!" says Emily Inverness as she hits Brenna with a pillow. "You have to get ready, because today is the biggest moment of your life!"

"Uh…" says Brenna groggily.

"Hey! Wake up!" Emily hits Brenna with the pillow again.

"Okay, okay!"

"Get up!" Brenna is being lifted into a sitting position by Emily. The latter pulls the former up and then pushes her to the washroom. "Hurry, we don't have all the time."

Emily puts some toothpaste onto Brenna's toothbrush. "Quick, quick!" Emily brushes Brenna's teeth for a while, then says, "You continue, I still have to prepare your breakfast."

 _When did you become my mom?_ Brenna thinks. The thought of a mom makes her think of how long she hasn't had one, as well as a dad. _What have I been doing with my life?_

As Brenna finishes brushing her teeth, she goes to the kitchen area of her small house to see Emily preparing two plates of mixed berry waffles.

"Millie, I'm not hungry."

"It's your big day, girl! Eat up, or I'll shove them to your mouth."

Brenna rolls her eyes, but she obediently takes a seat as Emily brings her a plate of the waffles.

"Oh Brenna, I can't believe I'm sacrificing my time for you now. I'm so proud of you."

"Millie, you beat me at the speed test when we were ten."

"I know! I hate you so much."

"I hate you too."

They feed themselves a few bites of their own waffles before they resume talking.

"Brenna, I will miss you. Do make District Two proud once again!"

"What happened to Blasius yesterday after the fire. Do you know?"

"I read in the newspaper that they are still investigating on the crime, but Blasius is still unconscious and badly burned from yesterday."

"At least he survived?"

"Yeah, but who will replace him now?"

Brenna thinks for an answer to that, while Emily finishes eating her share of the waffles. She goes to Brenna's wardrobe and looks for a good dress. Brenna finishes eating too not long after.

"Here, wear this!" Emily says as she takes out a knee-length white dress. "Hurry!"

"Calm down, girl!"

"I can't! It's your big day." Emily starts to take off Brenna's pajamas.

"Hey! Who says you can do that!?"

"Me, but just today, because I won't be seeing my roomie and bestie in the next few weeks."

"Calm down, will ya?"

"Fine!" Emily goes to her wardrobe to pick her own dress. Eventually, they are both dressed and almost ready to go.

"Millie."

"Yes?"

"Why do I need makeup?"

"Because it's your big day!"

Brenna rolls her eyes and decides to just shut up. She thinks of the time she met Emily.

 _~Flashback Start~_

About seven to eight years ago, Emily walks towards Brenna and bumps her while they both carry food in the cafeteria.

"Hey!" Emily acts out.

"You foolish beast!" responds Brenna, then she tackles Emily, and more food was spilled.

The children in the cafeteria chanted, "… Fight! Fight! Fight! …" Eventually, the trainers had to separate Emily and Brenna. Later that night, they were scrubbing the floor tiles as a punishment.

They are on different sides of the hall, but they made eye contact with each other at one point, then they continued scrubbing.

 _~Flashback End~_

 _And the year after, we became best friend. Best friends!?_ thinks Brenna. _This speedy beast, who I underestimated for being a few months younger than me, became my best friend!?_

After Emily fixes Brenna's hair into curls, the former brings out two pairs of glittering turquoise high heels.

"It's time to go. We don't wanna be late."

"Sure, MOM!" says Brenna with an eye roll and sarcasm.

On the way to the plaza, Emily chatters endlessly on the phone with her boyfriend. Brenna just walks while observing her surroundings. She shows zero emotion for the whole time. They arrive at the plaza not long after, and they both register themselves. Emily, still on the phone, heads to the seventeen-year-old section, while Brenna goes a few rows in front to the following section. Not long after, an escort wearing a neon green top hat, with a neon green blazer, as well as neon green slacks, holding a golden staff, walks to the mic with fashion. He fixes his messy orange wig and taps the mic.

"Good morning, District Two!" says the escort with his usual gay speaking tone. "I am Leif Ray Khan, and it is my third year to be escorting tributes from this proud district of mine."

People cheer aloud upon hearing from the escort. "As usual, I should show the video about the Hunger Games to everyone, but I wasn't able to bring the file."

People from the crowd are heard talking at the same time as a reaction. Leif continues, "However, who says we need that boring video when we can recap the past hunger games with a role play?"

A lot of voices can be heard from the crowd. "We have a lot of time anyway. Just raise your hand if you're interested, and I can select you to come up on stage. I'll pick from my index cards which year's games you will act out."

To keep things short, most of this will be skipped.

Leif says, "The One Hundred and Thirty-Fifth Hunger Games!"

The people who volunteer to come up on stage pretend that they're rowing a boat. One of them says, "This is another year for the District Four kids." Another one replies with, "Calm down, they're dead by now." The girl says, "How can we be calm in a weather like this!?" The crowd laughs at that scene. Meanwhile, another one is acting like a weirdo, eating cheese continuously. A couple others act as pirate mutts. "Ya get off our ship, by jumping at that wood plank!" He points somewhere far, and then he pushes the person acting as the tribute.

Leif says, "The One Hundred and Nineteenth Hunger Games!"

Two people who volunteer to come up pretend they are riding a motorcycle, one of which is chasing the other. Another one pretends to be the District Three boy who is fixing a ramen vending machine. Two others pretend they are stuck in a subway. They act out the conversation. The guy says, "It's time." The girl strips to her undergarments, and a reaction comes from the crowd. The guy takes his shirt off too, and more reactions come, especially from Leif. Leif shouts, "AAAHHHHH! Oh my gosh!"

Leif says, "The One Hundred and First Hunger Games!"

One guy who volunteers to come on stage borrows a lipstick and a mirror from his girlfriend. He applies the lipstick on stage, and the audience laughs. Three other people act as the triad alliance that year. One of them tells the person on the counter, "Give us the key, or you'll be one sorry mutt to the gamemakers." The hotel manager mutt cowers in fear and gives them a card. Two others act out a bloodbath scene. One of them pushes poker chips into the other's mouth. The audience laughs at this.

"We have a lot of talented actors and actresses in District Two," Leif says. "Let's give them a round of applause!"

People clap aloud. "Now, it's time for the actual reapings." He leaves the mic and quickly goes to the boy's bowl and picks out a slip of paper, he then goes to the girl's bowl to pick another slip of paper. He returns to the center and to the mic.

"Before I read the names, do we have any volunteers?" Leif asks.

"I volunteer," says Brenna softly and monotonously.

"Louder, girl!" Emily shouts from her section.

"I volunteer!" Brenna says aloud.

"And I," says a boy who appears from behind the stage, whose height is less than five feet, with amber eyes and spiky black hair. "Volunteer!"

The short and skinny light-brown-skinned boy walks slowly to the center of the stage as he fixes his striped shirt that's supposed to be tucked underneath his dress pants. He puts his hands in his leather jacket as he waits for his slightly tanned district partner whose height is far shorter compared to most eighteen-year-olds. She makes it to the stage and stares blankly to the crowd with her blue eyes.

"We'll start with you kid. What is your name, and why did you volunteer?"

"I am Rufus Cornelii, and I volunteered because I am finally eligible to join the games. I am excited to bring glory to the district and make my family proud of me. My great grandfather was a victor, and he told me what life is like after winning the hunger games. I will follow my great grandfather's footsteps, and I want to be one of the youngest victors in the history of Panem!"

"Wow! Now that's what I call determination!"

People in the twelve-year-old section shake their heads or react to that. Some even cower in fear. The others gave him an approving round of applause.

"Now young lady, what is your name, and why did you volunteer?"

"My name is Brenna O'Hare, and I am here to make my district proud," she says monotonously. "After all, I've been training since I was seven."

"Ooh! Very interesting!"

Emily shouts, "Way to go girl!"

Leif lets the two volunteers shake hands. He then raises Brenna's left hand on his right and Rufus's right hand on his left. "District Two, our representatives for the One Hundred and Fortieth Hunger Games!"

One last round of applause comes.

* * *

Rufus's family comes in. His parents hug him first, followed by four of his brothers.

Venus starts, "Rufus, I'm so proud you have the courage to volunteer! It's about time we need another victor in the family."

"Your mom is right," says Basilius. "I will buy the stone mason company when you win, because we're still short on cash for that."

"Mom, Dad, you know I'm doing this for us too," Rufus says. "I know how much we need the money. I don't want to be equals with the losers."

"We know you will become our district's youngest victor!" says Troy.

Surge says, "Cyrus Mackintosh was able to achieve that title just four years ago, and we wouldn't be surprised if you become our next!"

"Cyrus was hated by his allies though," Calix says.

"That's because he loves making terrible puns," says Troy.

"But he still won," Surge adds.

Zoro says, "How old is he now?"

Julian replies, "Eighteen. It's hard to forget Cyrus when he made big impacts in his own games, especially in the longest games ever."

"Well son," Basilius says. "You are a determined warrior in our eyes, and we all know YOU are the reason making us all proud."

Rufus wears that weird but innocent-looking smile on his face.

Julius then says, "Make us prouder by winning this!"

"I will," Rufus says.

Julius takes out a small skull token from his pocket and gives it to Rufus.

"Our symbol." Julius winks, then Rufus winks back. He keeps the creepy-but-innocent smile on his face.

They all say their last farewells to Rufus and leave one by one, except Calix, who saves himself for last.

"Rufus, you're not gonna win." Calix shakes his head in disbelief.

"How do you know?" says Rufus arrogantly.

"You're just twelve! What skills do you have to win this against other seventeen- and eighteen-year-old careers?"

"Why, don't you trust me?"

They both make eye contact, and Rufus makes a very creepy smile.

"I don't know what you're really up to, Rufus, but I promise you that you will not make it back to us."

"Oh yes I will!"

"I am betting all four of my limbs for this."

"Hah! I'd love to see you get pushed around with a wheelchair."

"Fair enough. You're betting your life into this. Can you tell me how smart you are?"

Rufus stares and glares at Calix as he feels offended. "Are you questioning my intelligence!?"

"YES!" says Calix while raising his voice.

"You see, I may not be the straight-A's person, but I've burned schools! I've burned my rivals from volunteering! I've burned the training center! And most recently, I took out Blasius from the competition."

"You WHAT!?"

"You heard me. I don't have to repeat myself."

Calix covers his mouth in shock. Rufus widens his eyes creepily.

"Take note, brother, I wasn't caught most of the time. Once was enough to get me kicked out of school, but I've learned from that mistake and planned much more strategically than ever. Besides, I just gave you a pinch of salt, and there's more of that from the oceans."

Rufus makes an evil laugh, and Calix still remains silent in shock. The latter shakes his head angrily and says, "You will not win! You will never win, NEVER!"

Calix leaves the room and slams the door. Rufus is left on his own to continue his evil laugh.

* * *

Brenna waits quietly in the room. She wears a poker face while reminiscing her past. Emily comes in first as expected, and she is just as loud as usual.

"BRENNA!" jumps Emily as she gives Brenna a hug. "I'm so proud of you, and I'm super duper happy for you!"

Brenna pats Emily's back and says, "Millie, can this wait until I win?"

"No!" says Emily, still hugging Brenna. "I will miss you so much, and I'm so sad I won't be with my bestest friend for a few weeks."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure you can sleep with your boyfriend without me having to watch you two."

They both laugh.

"Oh Brenna, I don't know how to express my love and pride for you more, so please take this." Emily takes out a photograph of them racing in the training center when they were eleven. It's clear that Emily beat Brenna in this race.

"Fuck you!" reacts Brenna, and they both laugh.

"Well my friend, it's time I let you go. I WILL MISS YOU!"

They hug one last time, and Brenna's bright smile changes into a poker face immediately as Emily leaves and Eva comes in.

"Brenna, I am so proud of you!" Eva says. "I still remember the days when you were just so little."

Brenna nods in a serious manner, showing no emotion at all.

"I can't believe the child I trained for twelve years is finally representing District Two in the Hunger Games. There was something particular in you that made you become my favorite."

As Eva continues, Brenna raises and eyebrow. "It was your way of fighting. You do it with so much focus, gracefully and quickly too. The attacks and defenses I taught you how to do, you did them even better than I expected, better than how I would do it!"

Brenna looks up at Eva with her poker face, and after a moment of silence, Eva continues, "And your creepy silence just makes me remember you the most in the training center. Trust me Brenna, there's no one else in the training center that is as impressive as you. When you come home with the title, the whole district will celebrate with a banquet of a lifetime. I know you got this."

An awkward silence fills the room, before Eva continues by giving some reminders. "Brenna, remember the things I have told you: One, always stay with the career pack. Two, make as many kills as you can. Three, apply whatever you have learned in the twelve years of training. Four, never hesitate to learn something new in the training center there. Five - hmmm, what else?"

A thumbs up comes from Brenna, and Eva gives him one last hug and farewell before the next guest comes in.

Mason says, "Brenna, I just dropped by to wish you good luck."

Brenna stares at the wall as if nothing happened. _Thanks though, Mason._

Mason waits for a response, but nothing comes out from Brenna. "Anyway, I just want to tell you how much I admire you. The way you train is just flawless, and I couldn't meet a person who could do better than you."

Stare. That's all Brenna does.

"Uh… Please teach me more, master. I will be waiting for your return, and I want to be your apprentice."

Brenna retains her poker face as she looks at Mason for the first time since he entered. She nods calmly and then stares back at the wall.

"Good luck, Brenna!" Mason leaves afterwards, and Brenna starts to sort out her thoughts.

 _Finally, some freedom! Freedom from people, freedom from training, freedom from District Two, freedom!_

* * *

AN:

We'll be heading for an intermission from the reapings next chapter. District 6 comes after that intermission, and then we'll have three other reaping chapters before the second intermission. The last four reapings will include one career district, to balance off the cultural differences like what I've done for this first chunk.

I'll be back to school next week, but since it's a start of a new trimester, I think I'll still have time to release 1 or 2 chapters, before it slows down in a way that I, and most likely my readers, don't want it to.

Hope you enjoyed the first career reaping chapter! :)

P.S. Head trainer Eva is not my character. She came from Brenna's creator.


	8. Stuntmen: The Thrills of a Lifetime

Lucius Thromanoid wears his helmet and goes inside a yellow sports car. He wears his shades and starts the engine.

"Ready?" Ulysses asks, as the director.

"Anytime," Lucius says with a thumbs up. Lucius warms up the car's speed.

"Lights, camera, action!"

Lucius adds more speed as the cameras start filming. He sees the ramp and goes even faster. He makes it past the ramp and it makes his car jump across the gap on the road. The car continues moving in speed, but he slows it down and eventually parks it.

He goes out of the car and takes his helmet off. It reveals his spiky brown hair half-dyed in orange.

"Now that was hot!" says Ulysses. He then goes closer to him to hand him an envelope containing his salary.

"I'll call you when I need you again."

"Sure thing, direc!"

Ulysses tells his crew to clean up, while Lucius goes back to his car. He drives back to the city, and goes to the casino. He takes out a cigarette and lights up one end of it. He fixes his shades and plays on one slot machine for hours. He loves staying in the casino, whether for gambling, eating, or 'borrowing' a girl.

When he gets sick of the slot machine, he goes to the area with the big TV. People are placing their bets on a soccer game, shown live through the big TV.

Beth says, "What can I do for you today, Lucius?"

He lowers his shades slightly and it reveals his brown eyes. "I'll just put my money on the Steel Clouds."

He gives an amount of money to Beth, then says, "Isn't it one weird name for a soccer team?"

"You always place your money on the contestant or team with the weirder name."

"I know."

Lucius gets himself a seat and watches the soccer game. He falls asleep not long after, since his life has been like this usually. He is later awoken by Beth.

"What?"

"Sorry, they were far from winning after all."

Lucius gets up from his seat. Beth says, "Were you even watching?"

"Nope, I think I lack a sense of excitement in my life."

"That can't be my fault."

Lucius goes to one of the tables in another section of the casino to play poker. He fixes his shades before the start of the game. His routine has been the same for the past few years. If he wins, he gets a girl and eats dinner. Otherwise, he just goes home and play with social media games.

To keep things short, he goes back to his big and fancy home and eats some bread. He takes his shades off as well as his blazer. He goes to the computer to play a video game where he has to harvest his plants, and then plant a new set of them. He does the same to his cooked food in another kitchen game. He then checks his email to find the application form.

"Hmmm…" he says, for he thinks what this application form could be.

"Greetings, precious volunteer! The president would like to thank you for showing interest in participating for the stunt of a lifetime. We are inviting stuntmen from the Capitol to role play as guardians for the upcoming Hunger Games. If you wish to back out as early as now, we respect your decision for this is a matter of life and death. If you manage to survive until the end of the games, the government will be awarding you prizes, including one million dollars. If you are still interested, click next to fill up the application form."

After reading it aloud, Lucius thinks of his life. His parents do not really care about him, he has no love life, he has a few true friends around, but many colleagues from different times and places, and his life lacks a sense of excitement. This routine has been going on since his ex dumped him several years ago, but at 35, he considers this lifestyle too dull for him. He clicks the next button to fill up the application form.

As Lucius fills up the form, he thinks aloud, "This will be fun."

* * *

Tristan Smith the Fourth, who goes by the name Titan, comes from a family of rich and fancy stuntmen. He wakes up early to stretch and go for a morning jog. At 19, his fans would consider him a young and successful star, but part of his fame comes from his family of stuntmen.

Titan's great grandfather, Tristan, is retired since he was 80. In his 89 years of living, he has done so much, including having a night talk show, acting, voice acting, and more. He's not really into stunts, but he's famous. Titan's grandfather, Trent, is more of the stunt person. At his current age of 65, he's been doing more talk shows than acting and performing stunts, but back in the days, when he was still young for stunts, he would mess with animals and play tricks on them. Titan's father, Triton, loves to play with locks. He is 36, and he still has a lot to do, but he never runs out of tricks, especially since Titan's mom comes from a family of locksmiths.

Titan comes back home after his morning jog around some areas of the Capitol. He finds breakfast on the table prepared.

Lara says, "Titan, anything for today?"

"I have a performance tonight."

"So you're free for the afternoon?"

"What is it, Mom?"

"I have a meeting with the gamemakers, so I was wondering if you're interested to come along."

"For what purpose?"

"Nothing really, only if you're interested."

Titan becomes suspicious about this, and says, "I'll think about it."

After breakfast, he goes to his computer to check his emails. There are a lot of emails about inviting him to act for a certain role for a movie, and he's not really interested in acting, but there is this one particular email he is waiting for. He opens it, and reads it.

Titan thinks, _I can finally volunteer for the hunger games!_

He excitedly fills up the form. It's been his dream to volunteer for the hunger games. He thinks it's unfair that only the districts outside the Capitol are allowed to participate in the hunger games.

 _~Flashback Start~_

He was watching the 129th Hunger Games with the rest of his family in the living room. It was the bloodbath in a castle made of glass and ice. The tributes are all coated like eskimos.

"Mom, Dad, look at those teenagers fight! I wanna be one of them too!"

"Son, those people are being killed as a punishment that their districts rebelled to us Capitolites," Triton said.

He continued to watch what is happening on TV. The thirteen-year-old girl from Nine got her spine crushed by the big boy from Two. The small girl from One sliced off the cheek of the boy from Five, then she choked him to death with her bare hands. The tall guy from One stretched the District Eleven twelve-year-old boy's cheeks until his face was ripped open to reveal his skull.

Lara pointed at the screen. "Titan, are you sure you want to be like that?"

He remained silent as he watched other tributes run out of the castle. He questions himself silently whether he wants to be involved in that kind of madness.

A panorama of the arena was shown on TV. One end of the arena was the cornucopia, other sectors included pine trees, icebergs, water, caves, and hills. There were other structures aside from the glass and ice castle, like the brick fortress, the igloo observatory, the broken cabin, and the glass underpass. The beauty of the arena made a reason to conflict Titan's sudden thought of not wanting to be involved in the games. He was confused at his life dream at an early age. He really wanted to explore beautiful terrains and show people he's up for a fight, a fight of a lifetime.

 _~Flashback End~_

He finishes filling up the form, then he checks what other emails are important. Later that afternoon, since he has nothing else to do, he decides to watch past Hunger Games to know what he can do when he gets to the arena.

He takes out the CD for the 134th Hunger Games. It's one of his all-time favorite games ever. He gets a bag of potato chips to eat as he watches.

During the intro, the tributes are shown boarding train cargoes. Each cargo has exactly one tribute and one TV on it. The TV's orient the tributes about the arena and the cornucopia while the clock is counting down, because by the time it reaches zero, all four trains, with six cargoes each, arrive at the central terminal of the arena, which is the cornucopia.

The girls from Nine and Six pull each other's hair, then the guys from Three and One were dueling with swords. The One guy said, "Why are you so hard to beat?" The three guy remained silent as they duel. The bloodbath kills are then shown as a montage: The guy from Eight was shot with an arrow through the neck. The guy from Six had a knife to his heart. The girl from Ten was sickled by the girl from Two. The guy from One fell to the train track as he dueled with the guy from Three. The latter stepped on the former's body until the train came, which dashed through the former's neck and head.

To keep things short, Titan was on his feet as he watches the last part of the games. It was a fight between district partners.

"What is wrong with you, Renz! You weren't like this when I met you!"

"Ever since I got a 10 for training, I learned that I was capable of winning. Now, let me do my job properly so I can go home, Steffy."

Steffy tried to run but bumped into the invisible wall of the train and helplessly cowered and cried in fear and desperation. Renz's silhouette was shown making the final blow with a cannon sound, then the seal of Panem is shown.

The scene slowly fades into the victor's interview. "Please welcome the victor of the One Hundred and Thirty-Fourth Hunger Games, Renz Delcroix from District Three!"

Titan checks his watch and learns that he has to leave, so he turns off the TV and gets himself ready. He applies some gel on his messy dark blue hair, making it spiky. He has a pair of clear goggles to protect his brown eyes layered with dark blue contact lens. He gets a small fancy-looking box hidden in his wardrobe and puts it in his right jacket pocket. He leaves the house feeling excited, ready for another fun stunt performance and an upcoming surprise up his sleeve.

* * *

Alistair returns to his office from his afternoon break. He watches everyone waiting for the special guest.

Brenda asks, "Sir, is the lady outside our special guest?"

"Yes, yes." Alistair clears his throat to make an announcement. "Everyone, I shall now introduce to you our special guest."

The other gamemakers settle down. Alistair clears his throat once more. "Ladies and gentlemen, we are to meet one of our main sponsors for this year's games. She sponsored for some of our twists last year, and she is still the CEO of the biggest physical security company in Panem, Lockmaster Enterprise." He thinks of what else to say, but he really isn't prepared with this kind of speech. "Without further ado, let us all welcome Lara Locksmith!"

A round of applause fills the room as a 34-year-old woman with curly yellow and brown hair enters the room. She is wearing a silver dress and a gold scarf and gracefully walks to the microphone.

"Good afternoon everyone! I'm so excited to be involved in this year's hunger games once again."

Brenda raises her hand and Lara says, "Yes?"

"I wasn't here last year, so can you please show us what you've done for last year's hunger games?"

"Ah! A nice way to relive the events of my masterpiece."

Lara brings out the flash drive with her. She shows through the projector a clip of last year's hunger games. Two career tributes were helping a third career tie himself up in a chain with many locks. The two careers slowly lower the third career as he enters the dungeon of pipe systems in the abandoned university arena.

"The careers were creative enough with the idea of having one of them lower themselves to get the warhammer they dropped in the sewer. The intention of the chains was to leave a tribute there hanging forever unless they have the ten keys to unlock the locks. Unfortunately, their idea backfired with the giant scorpion mutt."

The boy from Four screamed as the scorpion mutt gripped him tight. "He was unable to break free from the chains he put himself into. Otherwise, he could've made a run for it." The scene on the projector changes to a quartet unlocking the auditorium door.

"I didn't expect a bunch of tributes to actually find the keys to safe haven. They weren't able to use up all the supplies hidden in the auditorium actually, and after finding a bunch of powerful weapons, everyone thought they'd all have a chance to win the games last year. In fact, the fourteen-year-old girl from Seven was able to decapitate the girl from One with a battle axe when the latter entered the auditorium after the career disbanding."

The Seven girl digged her battle axe into the One girl's right leg, then she continued to break her neck, and eventually chop her head off.

"This one is my favorite." The scene changes to a cold networking laboratory. The boy from Twelve wandered around it and eventually found three locked glass doors protecting three power orbs. 3-4-7-8 is what he typed on the leftmost door.

TEET! TEET! TEET!

He made another guess: 4-5-9-1

TEET! TEET! TEET!

He made one last guess: 1-1-1-1

TEET! There was a long pause, and every second for the next ten seconds, a KLINK sound was produced. The boy panicked and tried to exit the room, but he realized that he was locked inside.

BOOM!

The thirteen-year-old boy from Three sat at the hallway near the door. He waited for his kill to be credited, while nothing from the room was properly recorded since thick smoke filled it. An hour and a half after, a cannon sounded.

"Those orbs were powerful," Alistair says. "And the code was actually in a text file in the main computer in that room. It's too bad we never got to see them in action, but what happened with the Twelve boy for guessing the combo made Doctor Flore want more of it."

"Ah yes! She did tell me how she loved it, but I don't think it will be fitting for this year's arena, am I right?"

"Yes, unfortunately. We believe you have other tricks and twists up your sleeve, however."

"In fact, what I will be talking about is where I plan to place the locks for this year's games."

She switches to her presentation slides as she exits her video file. She explains where she thinks it's best to put the locks in this year's arena, and she also tells them what kind of locks fit for which places. At the end of the presentation, she opens the floor for questions. Most of them were good and reasonable questions, but Brenda has another thought in mind.

"Yes, Brenda," calls Lara.

"Um, this might sound really random, but is your name really Lara Locksmith, as in Locksmith is your last name?"

"Oh, what a nice question!" Alistair reacts. "It's been bugging me since last year actually."

The other gamemakers react, and Lara answers the question with, "Supposedly, I am also known as Locksmith Lara, especially ever since I started working for our family company, but some people call me Lara Lock-Smith because Lock is my maiden name, and I'm married to Triton Smith, the guy who's obsesses with locks."

"Oh!" says Alistair. "How amusing!"

Brenda asks, "So it's Locksmith Lara or Lara Lock-Smith, not Lara Locksmith."

"What!?" reacts one of the gamemakers.

"I meant, it's Lara Lock-Smith with the hyphen between Lock and Smith, and not Locksmith as one word?"

"Yeah," replies Lara awkwardly. She puts her thoughts together. _Was I really meant to marry someone with Smith as a surname!?_ Her mind returns to the real world. "Any other questions?"

Silence filled the room, and Lara says, "Well, with that, thank you very much!"

She receives a standing ovation from some of the gamemakers who are interested in her ideas.

Alistair approaches Lara and says, "We'll talk more about this in the short-run."

"Sure!" Lara says with her thumbs up.

Alistair goes to the mic and tells everyone that he ordered for everyone's dinner tonight. Lara and the gamemakers have their dinner at the gamemakers' office. One of them turns on the TV to see a stuntman jumping off the tallest building in the Capitol with a pair of wings. He spreads his artificial wings wide and glides across the city. He is aware that he is being filmed live in the process.

"That's my boy!" Lara says.

They all watch Titan flap his wings to fly higher. He then goes lower, then higher, and the pattern loops until he gets himself low enough and land on a swimming pool in someone's house.

"Titan Smith!" says the pregnant teenager in surprise. "What are you doing here!?" Titan gets out of the pool and takes out a fancy-looking box that's been camouflaging from his left wing. He kneels down and opens the box, where a ring is revealed.

"WHAT!?" reacts Lara before her jaw drops.

"¿Emilia, Te casarías conmigo?" Titan says to his girlfriend of Spanish descent.

"YES!" she says hysterically happy with tears of joy.

As Lara is still shocked with her son's action on live TV, Alistair tells her, "Congratulations! You're going to become a grandma soon!"

"I need to talk to him. How many years has he been hiding a girlfriend from me? What else with a pregnant girlfriend!?"

"Lara, enjoy your dinner first."

"How can I enjoy dinner with this kind of news!?"

Back to the TV, the news reporter says, "What a way for Titan Smith to propose to his girlfriend! Isis Ambergayle is now with Titan and Emilia in front of Emilia's house."

"How long have you two been dating?"

"It's been six years since we've began our road to a happy ever after," Titan says.

"How old is the baby?"

"Eight months old," Emilia says.

Lara reacts, "WHAT!? WHY DON'T I KNOW THESE INFO!?"

"Maybe because you've locked yourself somewhere?" one of the gamemakers say. Some laugh, and Lara says, "Hey! That's not funny."

Isis now asks what they are planning in the near future. "Can you tell us about it?"

"Oh yes! I am excited to finally take part in this year's hunger games as a stunt-volunteer. It's been a childhood dream of mine to be part of the games."

"We all wish you luck, and we hope you take home the prize."

"WHY DON'T I KNOW MY SON'S LIFE!?" Lara says.

"Lara, just do what you have to do to him later at home," Alistair says. "Right now, I am so happy for you! Can you imagine how many people get to live to see their grandchildren?"

"Yes! A lot!"

"But not at a young age!"

The gamemakers all laugh, and Lara makes a fake one. She suddenly realizes how much time she's spent on her business than to her family. She's also troubled not only because her son got a girlfriend she never knew existed, but also because she never knew her son is going to the hunger games very soon. She now thinks she might have set a bad example to her son, since she was pregnant of him at 15. She also never liked her son's wish in life, but she blames herself for lacking attention in family matters. Alistair gives her some alcohol to drink, and she willingly accepts it due to her sudden change of emotional state.

* * *

AN:

I hope y'all enjoyed our first 2 stuntmen. We'll see more from them before or after the parades, while we'll get to meet the other 2 after the 8th reaping chapter. District 6 is up next (warning: multiple submissions received), and then 2 more outlying districts and 1 career district. I'm glad I've gotten this 'far' and I hope to finish this as soon as I can. Don't expect me to finish it within the year though.

I hope I can update again before the end of the month, but we'll see. If you're concerned with the progress of the story, check my progress reports on my profile from time to time. I want you to be informed of what's happening, so at least everyone may know I am not just gonna leave this story dead.

That's all for now! :)


	9. D6 Reapings: Paths of the Lost Stars

Zoe Mercedes and Chris Jeep walk side by side romantically, holding hands with each other. It is a dark night in District 6, with barely any source of light from the surroundings.

"Babe," Zoe says as she points to a teenager walking alone in the dark. They both approach him and then do what they usually do. Kylie Ford has been tagging along from behind. Zoe makes the hand signal, so she follows them too.

"Don't move!" Chris says as he points a gun at the teenager. He raises up his hands as Zoe checks his pockets. "You're pathetic." Suddenly, the wristwatch catches Kylie's eyes, so she points at it, and Zoe notices it too.

"I take back my words," says Zoe as she grabs the wrist of the guy and takes off the watch.

"Kylie, double check his pockets," Chris says.

Kylie checks the pockets to find nothing. "Nothing, Chris."

"The watch will be enough," Zoe says.

The three of them run off. Zoe gives Kylie the wristwatch, and the latter puts it in her dirty and broken backpack. They head off to a corner of the district, where they call it their home.

Kylie takes off her backpack, and scatters out the things on the floor.

Zoe says, "I think we will have enough for a week."

"Probably for three days only," says Chris.

They inspect what they have collected within the day, whether the stuff came from the trash, or it was stolen like earlier.

"This watch would be enough for tomorrow lunch. The bracelets would be enough for dinner. I think we could've done better," Zoe says.

"It's all about luck, babe."

Zoe and Chris cuddle close with each other, while Kylie inspects the remaining things on the ground. She's quite sick of the poor lifestyle, but she never got the chance to choose her life, maybe except that one time when she declined a kind offer.

 _~Flashback Start~_

Kylie was eavesdropping by the door.

"We have to send away the older children," said one of the people who manages the orphanage. "There are too many of them."

Kylie, fourteen that time, was about to be sent away elsewhere. She didn't know where she'd be off to. Later that afternoon, the people managing the orphanage called the teenagers that are too old to stay in the orphanage. Some of them committed suicide, others looked for the simplest jobs to keep themselves alive, but Kylie had no idea what she should've done. One other boy was left behind.

"Want to come with me?" said a small and skinny boy with very pale skin. He had a lot of large black moles due to a skin disease of his called melanoma. "They are sending me to the community homes where we'll get to meet more people, older people. Life will be like how it was here."

Kylie didn't know what she should do. If she accepted this offer, her life would've been similar from how it was in the orphanage, but she thought that life isn't just about staying in a room full of people like her. Still intimidated by the boy, she ran away without a response. She ran to a corner of the district, and met two lovebirds kissing each other.

"Hey! What are you doing here?" Chris said.

"I'm looking for a home, and this place looks good enough for one, but if this is your home, I'll look for some other place."

Zoe and Chris go to the far end to talk about the issue, and then Zoe says, "Fine, you can stay with us."

 _~Flashback End~_

Two years later, Kylie is here, helping the two lovebirds go around stealing from other people to survive. She prefers collecting scraps, but she knows it's a slow method, and she wouldn't survive from it. Still, she likes collecting scraps.

She looks at the night sky above, then she looks at the two lovebirds cuddling each other to sleep. She goes to the nearby trash, and she finds a crumpled sheet of bond paper in it. There is barely anything written on one side, but she flips to the other side of the paper. She then takes out the broken pencil she found from the trash last week.

She draws the night sky first by shading great portions on the sheet of paper, then she draws the rest of her surroundings, including Zoe and Chris sleeping on each other by this time.

She keeps the drawing in her backpack, and she stares back into the night sky. She thinks of her parents, but she can barely remember their faces and their names. She can only remember the sound of an explosion that killed both of them when she was just four-years-old. She misses them, and she would not be living in the orphanage in the next decade of her life if either of them were alive. It's not her choice for them to leave her orphaned, lonely, and lost.

There is a point in her life where she made a crucial decision, but her introverted nature has to decide against the sick boy's offer. Does she regret turning down the kind offer of his? She doesn't really know, for she would not be here right now traveling around the district with her true friends, Zoe and Chris. Life has been harder than ever since she turned down his offer, but the environment of a cramped home is not the habitat of a shy little girl like her.

 _Will our paths cross once more?_ she thinks as she stares into the night sky.

* * *

"Will our paths cross once more?" Thomas Barnaby says as he stares into the night sky as well.

"Thomas, it's three in the morning," Gordon Horace says.

"I can't sleep."

"Why?"

"I'm excited to find out what's out there."

"Life is full of adventures, Thomas, but I want you to have a good night's rest before the reapings."

"I'll try, but I'm too excited to."

"I know."

Gordon faces the other side of the bed, while Thomas still stares into the night sky. He's always curious to find out what's outside District Six, what life is outside his district.

He remembers his parents. They both treated him well, but alas, they died when Thomas was just six. Thomas knew his dad was lying to him that his mom just went on a business trip to the Capitol, because he could remember his dad succumbing to morphlings ever since his mom was gone. Several months after, his dad passed away too. He remembers their loving faces and their names, Emily and James. He misses them too, because life was never the same ever since he was sent to the orphanage. All this was never his fault, for his family has a history of skin diseases, which is why he is left orphaned at an early age, and now, he is still surviving from his fight with melanoma, but he knows the inevitable will eventually come, especially since money doesn't grow on trees.

 _~Flashback Start~_

One of the people working for the orphanage brought Thomas in, while another one of them brought in a brown-eyed and black-haired girl crying softly. As the people working for the orphanage left the two of them together at the lobby, Thomas waved to the girl to lighten her up, but it was obvious that she's not the most extroverted of people.

"It's okay," says Thomas. "We will have a better life here." She looks at Thomas, then she goes back to her troubled little world. They were eventually brought to their rooms, all of which are full of other children.

Ten years later, the orphanage had to let the older children or teenagers go, because there wasn't enough space left in the orphanage.

"Want to come with me?" he told the same small and shy girl. "They are sending me to the community homes where we'll get to meet more people, older people. Life will be like how it was here."

She didn't know what to do, so she ran away.

"Don't worry, I hope to see you again someday," said Thomas, but he knew she never heard his last sentence.

Some people came to fetch Thomas from the orphanage, so he could live in the community homes, and so people could take care of him since he needs more attention with his sickness.

 _~Flashback End~_

 _I will never forget her face,_ Thomas thinks.

Several hours later, he wakes up on his own, feeling excited of today's events.

"Today is the day I will know what lies beyond this world!" Thomas announces to his roommate.

"Thomas, I wish you can tell me what's out there."

"Sure, Gordon. Wish me luck!"

They both smile to each other.

Thomas gets his pair of black slacks and a plain white collared shirt. After changing, he waits for Gordon to finish preparing.

"Let's go!" says Thomas.

Gordon and Thomas make their way out of the community home. Percy Cornelius, who's been waiting for them, greets them. "Thomas, Gordon, what's up!"

Gordon and Thomas each do their friendship handshakes with Percy, and the three are headed to the plaza for the reapings.

"I'm ready to have some fun!" Thomas says.

"We know you're excited," Percy says.

"I'll get to meet new people, I'll learn more things, and I'll know what lies outside Panem. Have any of you wondered what's up in the sky, what's outside the land of Panem, what other creatures live under the sea?"

"I don't," Percy says frankly.

"Well, I never spent too much time thinking of those." Gordon says.

"It's okay. Soon, I will get to know these things, and a lot of other things!"

They arrive at the plaza and fall in line. By the time they all get in, Percy goes to the sixteen-year-old section, Gordon files himself into the seventeen-year-old section, and Thomas makes his way to the eighteen-year-old section.

"Hi! How are you doing?" Thomas greets a fellow eighteen-year-old.

"It's our last year, buddy," says the tall and tanned but almost-baldheaded guy.

"Thomas."

"Chris."

"Nice to meet you! How is life?"

"Fighting hard to survive with my girlfriend."

"Oh! I never had a girlfriend, how does it feel to have one?"

"It's like, uh… it's like you have someone to take care of you, because you take care of her too."

"When do you plan to build a family?"

"Uh… I don't know?"

"It's okay, Chris. Life is different if you have skin cancer from genetics and ultraviolet exposure."

"Are you alright?"

"Yeah, my life is almost at the end, yet I can't experience so many things."

"Oh."

"It's okay, Chris. Enjoy life while you can. Today is my…"

The escort taps on the mic. She looks like a ghastly doll with the overapplication of white makeup on her face. She has curly yellow hair, and she dresses like a housemaid, wearing a black and white dress that looks uniformed with her short black and white skirt. She has black and white checkered heels as well, and she seems to wear a tiara on her head. Some people have to assist her with the mic, because she has to tiptoe in order to reach, and only tap, the mic.

"Thank you very much," she says in a naturally squeaky voice. "Hello, District Six!"

Silence.

"Um… okay." she says. "I started escorting just last year, and I'm not sure if any of you remember me."

"I do!" says a guy on one side of the stage.

"Of course," she says. "Which mentor doesn't know the escort?"

"Me!" says an old woman on the same side of the stage as the guy.

"Oh shut up!" the escort says sassily and squeakily. The people laugh, and she says, "Silence!"

"Introduce yourself!" says the young guy mentor.

"Fine! I'm M-M-M-May, May."

"Real name, kiddo." The people laugh.

"Ugh, fine! I'm Mayonnaise Puddington."

Everybody except the escort and peacekeepers laughs, and the guy mentor walks to the center of the stage and grabs the mic from the escort.

"Hey!" she says.

"Everyone, we're going to skip the video, because it's boring as hell." The crowd reacts positively to it.

"Hey! You can't do that."

"We're running out of time, kiddo. Remember last year?"

"Shut up!"

The audience laughs in amusement.

"Let's get to the fun part!" the mentor says excitedly.

The crowd goes silent from the mentor's sentence, but it's because they thought it would be the part where they are sending two teenagers to the hunger games. The crowd only finds out what he means by 'fun' when the escort attempts to reach the top of the bowl.

"Hey! Help me."

The crowd watches in amusement as May tries to reach the girl's bowl. Everybody except May laughs, especially the mentor.

"I helped her out last year, because we didn't have so much time from the video, but this year, no video!"

The crowd reacts positively once more. At one point, a peacekeeper comes to the stage to carry May to the bowl.

"Thank you." She picks up a pink slip and reads the name. "Kylie Ford. Come out, come out!"

The small and slightly muscled girl with long raven black hair from the sixteen-year-old section hugs the girl beside her, one of her best friends.

"It's okay," Zoe says tearily albeit optimistically. Zoe starts to cry quietly, and she's trying to remain as calm as she can with the situation, even though she knows she will burst soon.

Kylie tries to look confident, and her shy brown eyes show that she's trying. Her ripped gray leggings and her dirty, oversized, gray hoodie shows her social status in the most obvious sense. Upon seeing her face, it is possible to tell that her tanned skin is weather-beaten from her way of living.

She makes it to the stage looking afraid, yet she tries to be brave and confident. May is already on the other side of the stage trying to reach the other bowl.

"UGH! WHY!?" The crowd laughs, and another peacekeeper assists her with picking a name from the bowl. "Thank you." She opens the slip of paper to read the name, "Chris Jeep. Come out!"

A scream from Zoe is heard from the female sixteen-year-old section. Chris sighs as everybody's eyes are on him.

"CHRIS! NO!" Zoe becomes hysterical at this point.

"Don't worry, Chris," Thomas says as he stops Chris, who looks confused.

Thomas announces, "I volunteer as tribute!" A loud gasp is heard from the crowd, and there are many other reactions following it.

"A volunteer!" the escort says with her naturally squeaky voice. "How exciting!"

"I am excited!" replies Thomas, and May's face expression changes into a confused one. The crowd reacts, and most people think he's insane at this point. May shouts, "Silence!"

The small and skinny boy with pale skin, curly brown hair, and dark brown eyes makes it to the stage. May approaches him and asks, "Why did you volunteer?" May struggles giving Thomas the mic with her height, but he simply announces with his loud voice, "Today, I am volunteering for the hunger games, because my life is nearing the end." He points at the large black moles in his arms and body. "I was diagnosed with melanoma when I was fourteen, and I want to have some fun in the last moments of my life, instead of just rotting inside the community home."

The crowd reacts, and he continues, "I also want to learn what is outside District Six, because there are so many things we have all been hidden from. Has anyone ever wondered what is outside Panem? What if there's a world better for everyone to live in? What if the stars you see in the sky are other worlds waiting to be explored? What if…"

"That's enough!" May sassily says through the mic. "We have our tributes, District Six, and I hope not to see you next year!"

"Mayonnaise, why?"

"Shut up, Royce! You only got a one at your private training!"

"But why am I here mentoring other children now?"

May is not able to respond to that, and the crowd reacts, claps, and cheers. Royce bows to the audience, and May walks out of the stage grumpily.

* * *

Kylie sits in the corner and cries to her misery. No one can see her, except for the surveillance camera in the room. Zoe slams the door open, and she's seen crying her eyes off. The two girls hug, while Chris waits by the door, obviously upset with the situation.

"ONE DAY!" Zoe says. "ONE DAY, I WILL SHOW THEM THAT WE'RE NOT JUST TOOLS FOR THEIR ENTERTAINMENT! RAAAAAHHH!"

Kylie hugs Zoe tightly as the latter can't settle down until now.

"Kylie, Kylie I won't forget you." She calms down for a while. "AAAAAHHHHH!"

Kylie pats Zoe at the back, then Chris hugs Zoe as well.

"Chris, Zoe, watch me come back for you two," Kylie says while attempting to be confident.

"Oh Kylie, my baby girl has grown up!" Zoe hugs Kylie once more. Silence fills the room, before Zoe continues her rage. "RAAAAAHHH!"

Kylie pats Zoe at the back, because there's nothing else she can tell her at the moment.

Chris says, "Kylie, we believe in you, because we know you will do your best out there."

"Kylie, please come back," says Zoe as she endlessly wipes her tears away. "Kylie, I can't live without you, Kylie please!"

"I will." She pauses while Zoe is still wiping her tears. "I will!"

"That's my girl!" Zoe hugs Kylie once again, and she doesn't wanna let go this time.

"I'm so thankful for the guy who volunteered for me."

Zoe jumps to Chris this time, not wanting to let go of him as well.

"OH MY GOSH! I'M SO GLAD YOU'RE STILL WITH ME!" They both kiss romantically for what feels like a year. Kylie is left sitting at the corner awkwardly waiting for them to finish.

"KYLIE!" Zoe hugs her once more upon remembering she may not come back. "I will miss you so much! UUUUUGH-HO-HO-HU-HU!"

Kylie pats Zoe's back once again. The former is getting used to the latter's routine of not wanting to let go.

Chris says, "I'm pretty sure Thomas will not want to come back. He's very kind and friendly, and I'm glad he's your district partner instead."

"His face is so familiar. It's bothering me."

"I'm glad I met Thomas. I'm pretty sure he'll help you win as a district partner wanting to leave this world."

"It's really so familiar!"

"Maybe you'll find out once you two get to talk at the train."

"Maybe."

Zoe lets go, and she still tries to keep herself sane.

"Oh my gosh! Kylie, please, please, please, come back for us."

"You are my only family ever since we met at the slums. I will never forget you two."

"AAAUUUHHHHH!" Zoe goes back to hug Kylie again. "WE WILL NEVER FORGET YOU TOO, NO MATTER WHAT, BUT PLEASE COME BACK!"

"I will do my best to!" Kylie now says it with so much confidence.

"THAT'S THE SPIRIT, GIRL! AAAUUUHHHHH!" They hear the peacekeeper knock the door, so Chris detaches Zoe, which takes up almost all the remaining time. Chris gets to hug Kylie one last time, before the peacekeepers send the lovebirds both out.

Kylie takes out the drawing of them she drew last night, or earlier this morning. She looks at them and realizes that they are indeed the only people who treat Kylie as part of their family, even though she feels awkward being the third wheel most of the time. She is what's left of them, and she became a part of them for the past two years. She will never know if she will see them again, but she knows these two will always be in her art and in her heart.

* * *

Thomas waits in the room, and people of varying ages visit him one by one. Most of them wish him luck, and he gives them a hug in exchange. So much time was taken up by the people that he met from the orphanage and community homes. The last two to come are his closest friends.

"This is it, Thomas," Gordon says. "Everyone knows what your true dream is now, and I wish you luck in achieving this."

"Thanks, buddy!"

"Go out there and reach for the stars!"

Thomas raises his fist pretending to shoot for the stars.

Percy says, "I may not understand your philosophy, but all I can do is wish you luck."

"Thanks, buddy! I'm glad our ideologies don't affect our friendship."

"Yeah!" They do the friendship handshake one last time, then Thomas moves to Gordon to do their friendship handshake too.

"We can't stop you from this," Percy says. "But I'm glad you're about to live your dream."

Gordon adds, "When you told us that you wanted to go out like this, we thought we'd give you something to remind you of us, of home, of your life in District Six, whether you'll miss it or not."

Percy takes out a small metal car figurine from his pocket and gives it to Thomas.

"We were looking for a rocket instead of a car, but we couldn't find one," Percy says.

"Then we would've told you that you can now shoot for the stars!" Gordon adds.

Thomas says, "It's okay. Cars can fly too, maybe in another dimension."

"That's the Thomas I know!" Gordon reacts. They laugh.

"Don't worry, guys, I may not see any of you again, but I promise to go out with a bang!"

"I don't know what you mean by that exactly, but whatever it may be, I can't wait to…" Percy thinks if it's okay to say he'd be happy to see his friend die in a way that he truly desired.

"See me go out the fun way?" Thomas asks.

"Yes," says Percy.

Gordon says, "If this is what you wished for, then I'll see you in the stars someday. Farewell, Thomas!"

"Farewell, friends! It's been a fun ride."

"Goodbye!" Percy says.

"Don't forget to live life and be happy! We'll meet again someday, someday in another land, far far away."

They exchange their last hugs before Thomas's two friends leave. Percy and Gordon may have known how badly Thomas wanted to volunteer for the games, but they are saddened by the fact that Thomas has to die elsewhere, and not stay with them until the end of his life. Dying in the hunger games is different from dying from cancer in one's own district, but Thomas chose his path in life, and he is ready to leave the world gloriously, not regretting the last few moments of his life.

Thomas realizes something before entering the train. _I knew I'd meet that girl one last time._

* * *

AN:

This is the 5th out of 12 reapings I have to write, and I'm glad I'm getting the hang of it. :D The first 2 reapings made me lazy at times, but I knew I'd get the hang of it eventually. The constructive criticisms definitely helped, and an outline also helped me write this chapter better and faster. :D

I could've released this chapter less than 10 hours later, but I'm too excited to not have it released. D9 is next (warning: multiple submissions received), and I'll hopefully get the chapter out not too long after this update. D12 and then D1 will follow before I have the second stunt chapter out. Just to clarify, if I write a chapter early or accept a tribute right after it was submitted, it doesn't necessarily mean that the tribute will go far or win. I may have accepted bloodbaths in the first batch of tributes, or I might not have received the future victor yet. ;) I have received bad submissions that I could not have avoided if I have a first-come-first-serve policy. :P

That's about it. I'm loving most of the reviews, so thanks for reviewing if you had. :D


	10. D9 Reapings: Learning from the Masters

"For today's history class, we will be talking about the mockingjay era on Panem."

The teacher writes "75th Hunger Games" on the blackboard.

"Now, can anyone tell me one of the surviving tributes from that year's hunger games?"

A girl with a round face and dark brown hair with two braided pigtails raises her hand.

"Yes, Macy?"

She stands up and says, "Miss Ronda, none of the six victors who escaped that year is still alive, but the names of the tributes are Katniss, Peeta, Finnick, Johanna, Enobaria, and Beetee."

"Wow, very good!" Miss Ronda writes down the names on the board. "I think we've all been told of the story ever since second grade. Katniss was a hero, a mockingjay, a symbolism for a powerful rebellion. Well, those are all true. She was loved, idolized, supported. She was supposed to kill President Coriolanus Snow, but she ends up killing District 13's President Alma Coin. However, within a week after those deaths, a random guy shot her in the head. She was a symbol of democracy, of power! After her death however, that same madman shot the new president in the head as well. Therefore, a new election was put into place, since there was still no vice president."

She writes "Hannah Jauze" on the board. She taps that part of the board and continues, "She became the new president, and she said that the Hunger Games should still be a punishment to all the outlying districts, because we should not forget about history. The districts rebelled against the idea of course, but her force was strong enough to stop the follow-up rebellion. With Katniss Everdeen gone, everything had changed."

Miss Ronda goes to talk more about what happened after the Snow Dynasty. She asks some more people to recite, and some students care to ask some questions. The class ends more or less an hour after. Macy Roe approaches her teacher. "Miss Ronda…"

"Sure Macy," Miss Ronda cuts her off. "You know where my table is, right?"

"Yes, Miss Ronda." With that, she helps her teacher by bringing down her teacher's stuff to the faculty room. The teacher knew this would happen after every session of class.

Upon exiting the faculty room, Macy sees her best friend, Skylar. She has dark skin, brown eyes, and the curliest hair one has ever seen. She has been waiting for Macy outside.

"Hey!" Skylar greets.

"Hey! Did you like today's lesson in class?"

"I don't know. I heard it for so many times already."

"But you fell asleep for the rest of her lecture."

"Yeah, she's boring."

"No she's not. I like her!"

"You like all your teachers, Macy. We all know that."

"You're right!"

They both laugh as they move to another area where they continue the conversation. They see a cat walking past them.

"Ooh, kitty!" says Macy.

They decide to follow it.

Macy continues, "I always wanted a pet, and I asked my parents for a pet dog at least, but they always tell me that we'll have one someday."

"My parents don't like animals. At least your parents are open to the idea of pets."

They continue walking to a place where they can hang out. These two were far from friends when they first met, during first grade when they were seven years old.

 _~Flashback Start~_

"Skylar, may I borrow your pencil?"

"No!"

"Why?"

"I said no!"

"But why!?"

Of course, the little children didn't know better. Skylar jumped at Macy and they both started pulling each other's hair. Eventually, the teacher sent them both to the principal's office.

"Kids, please don't do that again next time."

They both nodded, but as they leave the principal's office, they glared at each other.

Fast forward to three years later, they were once again sent to the principal's office for cutting each other's hair. They both glared at each other as they waited for the principal to come.

"You know, if none of us will stop, none of us will win something good," Macy said.

"I still hate you." Skylar looked away from Macy.

"Come on, Sky. Do you remember what Mister Young from values class told us yesterday? We need to forgive others."

Skylar stared at the wall to rethink.

"I'm sorry," Macy said. "Let's start over and be friends." She reached out her hand as Skylar turned around to see Macy smiling at her in a friendly manner. Skylar reached out her hand as well and they both shook hands.

"I'm sorry," Skylar said. "I'm sorry for being jealous in your cuteness"

Macy laughed, then she said in a half-not-serious manner, "Really!?"

They both laughed, but it was interrupted by the arrival of the principal.

 _~Flashback End~_

Around two years later, which is present time, they both look like sisters, inseparable until the end of time. They reach the meadows, where different kinds of flowers grow abundantly.

"A four-leaf clover!" Skylar says as she picks it up. Macy tries to look for a four-leaf clover as well, but they eventually move on to the dandelions.

"This one looks the puffiest," says Macy before blowing its seeds away. Skylar picks up another dandelion and blows the seeds away too.

"The tulips are beautiful," says Skylar.

"So are the sunflowers," Macy adds.

They look for more flowers and play around the field. They watch the sunset together. Skylar puts her left arm around Macy's lower back, by her waist. Macy returns the action by placing her right arm above Skylar's back, by her neck.

"Well, the sun is down," Macy says.

"Don't leave yet," Skylar says. She pauses for a while. "I feel nervous for tomorrow's reapings."

Macy gives Skylar a pat on the back. "Me too, honestly. I don't know what to do exactly."

"What if one of us gets reaped?"

"I… I don't know. I don't think we'll be reaped, our names have only been entered once. I should be worried for my brother more. He took a lot of tesserae for me."

They hug each other before saying farewell to each other.

"See you tomorrow!"

"See ya, Sky!"

Macy goes home, to her house that looks just fine, not too extravagant yet not too impoverished. She enters her house to see the sight of her parents and her brother already home. It's not a usual sight, since they are home from work earlier than usual.

"How was school, sweetie?" asks George.

"It's fine. We learned about President Hannah Jauze today."

"Ooh!" George reacts. "That meanie son of a… I mean daughter of a… uh, that meanie."

"I'm glad you're able to control it, honey," Nora says. "Sweetie, why are you home so late?" She sounds and looks worried.

"I was watching the sunset with Skylar."

"How old is she?"

"Twelve, just like me."

"Oh." Nora realizes that it's also Skylar's first year to be eligible in the reapings.

"Mom, Dad, Macy, dinner is ready," Caden calls.

"I'm glad you finally learned how to cook," Nora says.

"But what if I get reaped tomorrow?" says Caden.

Both parents worry, as they have the same fear. Macy says, "Don't worry brother, maybe there are others who took more tesserae than you did."

Silence. Caden then says, "Yeah, maybe, hopefully."

As dinner is served, they all eat in silence. Macy tries to bring a conversation into the table. "Daddy, when are we getting a pet dog?"

"Someday, sweetie." George rubs her head and she smiles.

After some moments of silence, she tries again. "Mommy, what is your favorite book."

"Oh, there are too many to name." She smiles, and Macy smiles back.

Hours later, she goes to bed. She shares the room with her brother, while her parents are in the room across.

"Mommy, what am I gonna wear tomorrow for the reapings?"

"Hmmm…" Nora thinks.

George says, "You can wear the dress we gave you on your last birthday."

"Okay," Macy says.

"Good night, sweetie," Nora and George say in unison. They exchange hugs and kisses with Macy. George turns on the night lamp, before they leave the room. Caden's empty bed is the last thing Macy sees before she falls asleep.

* * *

Ogon Warsack and Dorian Belcorn both relax on the sofas in the living room. They are both drinking wine, one of the finest kinds available in the rich part of the district.

"Ogon, I wonder who will be reaped in this year's hunger games." Dorian says it in such a fancy tone with a fancy accent.

"It doesn't matter, Dorian. What are the chances people like us would be reaped?"

"Oh there's still a chance."

They both sip from their respective wine glasses.

Dorian says, "My grandfather used to tell me: 'A true gentleman should never take advantage of any lady.'"

"How many times do you have to mention your grandfather every time we meet?"

"As much times as I want to, because he is my idol."

"You seem to look up really high to him."

"Of course! He is my idol, and I miss him dearly." Dorian takes a sip. "He said he was on a business trip to the Capitol, but I always wonder why he never came back."

"I'm pretty sure he will." Ogon tries to cheer Dorian up, but both of them know it's not gonna work.

Dorian laughs and reacts, "Two years!? I expect him to come back after two years!?"

"Oh no, I'm just being silly." Ogon laughs, and so does Dorian once more.

"At sixteen years old, I lost my one and only grandfather."

"You're supposed to have two."

"Oh I'm just being silly." They laugh at Dorian's mockery. "You're right. I don't know anything about my other grandfather." They keep laughing, but it has to die down too.

"On a serious note, I really miss my grandfather. He taught me how to be a gentleman, how to play fencing, how to be fashionable, and a whole lot more."

"Dorian, everybody has someone to miss. We have to let go of these people in our lives, because they're either not worth it, or because you love them so. For the latter case, people we love can't stay with us forever. Death is inevitable, unless you're a god."

"Ogon, if you were in my shoes, you'd probably get a better understanding on how I feel deep inside."

"When do you provide me with information about your feelings!?" They both laugh. Dorian realizes that the wine bottle is empty, so he and Ogon finish their respective drinks.

"It seems like we're out of wine," Ogon says.

"It's fine! You're bringing the bottle next time though."

"No problem."

Ogon leaves Dorian's house, while Dorian cleans up all the mess in the living room, which is not much. He lives alone, for his parents have too much money to let him stay with them. They live nearby, however. Dorian comes from a family of factory owners. Money is never an issue, and he as well as the people related to him never know what it's like to be poor.

Dorian proceeds to the bathtub, where he accidentally sleeps for the night. He wakes up several hours later and gets ready for the reapings. He wears a white shirt and boxers, followed by his black slacks and a gold-and-dark-blue-striped necktie. He looks at his wardrobe, and decides to wear the dark green vest his grandfather gave him on his fourteenth birthday. Lastly, he puts on an elegant Victorian-esque suit.

He proceeds to the mirror to comb his light brown hair. He combs his bangs so that he won't have to shake it off from time to time, since it is long enough to reach the neck area. He checks what he's missing, and he takes the family heirloom, an ancient golden pendant originally owned by his grandfather. It was passed to his father before it reaches him.

He goes to the kitchen to prepare French toast. He wishes to have an avox to help him out with chores or preparing food, but he'll think about it once more if he comes back. He goes to the shoe rack to gather his black shoes. He shines them bright like the reflection of the sun from a mirror. He then returns to the kitchen to eat his French toast. He gets a fork and a knife, and he cuts each slice neatly and carefully.

Once done, he washes his dish and utensils before proceeding to the living room, where his shoes are. He wears dark socks and the black shoes he was shining. Before he leaves his fancy house for the reapings, he takes the top hat near the door and wears it. He hesitates whether to bring a cane with him or not. It is his last year to be eligible for the reapings, so he decides to bring the cane with him, albeit he puts the foldable cane in a pocket in his suit.

He walks with his back straight, chest out, and chin up. He walks with fashion, and he eventually makes it to the plaza for the reapings. He makes it to the queue, and he looks at the girls' queue. He can overhear the older ones talking about him.

"He is that rich kid of Marcus and Anastasa Belcorn."

"Cesare was his grandpa, right?"

"Yeah! They own almost all the factories in the district."

The girls look to see Dorian watching them from a distance. He raises his eyebrows, and smiles a little, then winks at them.

"Oh my gosh!" one of them says softly.

"I wish Gerome looks like that too," the other one says softly.

By the time he makes it in, there is still a lot of space. He is early today, and he realizes it just now. He looks around to see many teenagers in the dirtiest clothes possible. He tries to look away from those. After some time, he sees a slender but short guy who is wearing an outfit much fancier than what Dorian is wearing. He looks at the small jewelries on the guy's platinum blonde hair.

"Ogon, you look like an escort!" Dorian says half-jokingly. They both laugh, but since they are in public, they do it fancily like gentlemen.

"Speaking of the escort, I think that's him." Ogon points to a guy shining in silver. Every step he takes makes a sparkle to everyone's eyes. His face is gold, but a portion of it near his right eye is covered by a silver mask. He seems to be wearing an outfit that makes him look either like an alien or a robot. The outfit includes both for his top and his bottom. The shoulder area of the outfit is very huge and long, and he looks like the capital letter Y when he walks with those things. He has shiny pink boots and shiny blue gloves. His hair color seems normal at least, though his hair seems a bit longer than usual.

He can't find the mic, so he starts speaking while some people prepare it for him. "Welcome! Welcome to the reapings of the 140th hunger games! My name is Neomett Elphyz, and I was first here during the 130th hunger games."

He goes to show the updated video after the fourth quarter quell, which includes a little bit about the dark days rebellion, a lot from the mockingjay rebellion, and the rest from the first one hundred hunger games. As the video ends, he approaches the mic once again.

"Let us begin!" he says with the mic in a robotic tone that echoes. People start to doubt that he's still human. They are also reacting to the way he walks with the outfit, because he really looks like a walking capital letter of the alphabet.

"Our female tribute this year is Macy Roe!" As he speaks, his robotic voice echoes.

A girl with dark brown hair styled as two braided pigtails wearing a simple navy dress that reaches to her ankles slowly walks out of the twelve-year-old section. People gasp in surprise as this short and skinny girl is reaped to represent for this year's hunger games. She adjusts the white sweater over her dress as she walks to the middle aisle. The usually-smiling lips have faded ever since her name was called. She looks up with her big and round eyes at the stage to see the escort waiting for her to come up. Tears start falling on her pale and freckled face. She sniffs with her little button nose as she makes it to the stage. She looks at the many rows of girls with her teary green eyes, silently begging for someone to volunteer in her place. She then looks at her brother, who shakes his head with a more-than-worried look on his face.

The escort finally moves to the other side of the stage to reap the boy's name out. He reads aloud with his echoing robotic voice, "Jesse…"

"I volunteer!" Dorian announces aloud.

"What!?" Ogon reacts in a surprised manner.

"What?" says Dorian confidently. Ogon is still shocked as Dorian moves away from his position. People see his oval, angelic, and symmetrical face, with thin pursed lips and a small pointed nose. He is tall and slightly tanned. He keeps his back straight, chest out, and chin up as he makes his way to the stage with nobility.

"A volunteer!" Neomett says echoingly and robotically. "Can you please tell us your name, and why you volunteered?"

"I go by the name Dorian Belcorn."

People react upon hearing the last name.

"And I volunteered because I want to go to the Capitol to investigate on my grandfather's death, Cesare Belcorn."

"Cesare Belcorn!?" Neomett reacts. "I didn't even know he is already dead!"

There are too many reactions from the crowd, but it eventually dies down.

"District Nine, Macy Roe and Dorian Belcorn!" They both shake hands before being led to the Justice Building. Dorian looks to the crowd confidently, while Macy tries to smile with tears in her eyes.

* * *

Macy remains to cry in the room. Her family comes in first, all looking devastated as expected.

"Sweetie," Nora says. She doesn't really know what to say, so she goes to hug her. She tries to wipe her tears with tissue paper, then goes to wipe Macy's tears as well. She gives Macy the small pack of tissue paper, and another hug. Tears continue to flow on both pairs of eyes.

George comes closer to hug Macy as well. "Sweetie, everything will be fine." Macy continues to cry, knowing that his father is just trying to cheer her up. He gives her some pats on the back, as he holds her close while shaking his head in devastation.

It is then Caden's turn, and he tries to cheer Macy up too. "Macy, just remember the good times we used to have. When we were young, we played so many games at home. Remember?" He smiles, or at least tries, but Macy is not done crying her eyes out. She thinks of the happy days, but in a way in which they are over.

Caden then goes to hug her. "Oh Macy, why!?" He cries for her as well, for he has taken so much tesserae and it is his last reaping. Macy on the other hand is on her first reaping without having taken any tesserae at all. Caden sacrifices himself to provide Macy with enough food.

The two siblings commiserate almost endlessly. It takes up a lot of time, but Macy starts to speak. "Brother, you are the best person in the world. I love you." They both hug once more, and continue to cry aloud. "I love you too, Macy. I love you!" It goes on for a while.

"Why is this so hard!?" Caden says tearily and rhetorically. He calms down after a while.

"Macy, don't forget to get an ally, a friend," says Caden.

"I will!" Macy replies as she continues to wipe tears away. They all exchange flying kisses and say their last farewells before Skylar comes in.

"Macy, I wish I can help you."

Skylar comes closer to Macy, and the former gives the latter a hug. "I want to say that it's all gonna be fine, but I can't." Skylar rubs Macy's back in order to calm her down. Luckily, it works.

"Remember the days when we were not friends?" Macy laughs a bit at what Skylar just said.

"You are so funny. I can't believe we fought like that back then."

They laugh shortly, then Macy takes out a dandelion she picked from the meadow earlier today.

"You kept one with you?"

"It will remind me of home. It is all I will have left if I won't come back."

"Macy, get a better token. That is not gonna last forever."

"What is a better token?"

"I'll give one to you later."

They both smile at each other. Macy gives Skylar a hug, and she also stops her river of tears from flowing continuously. The peacekeeper knocks on the door.

"I have to go."

"Stay with me, Sky, please."

Skylar stays for a while.

"I don't know what advice I can give you."

"It's okay. I'll know what to do once I meet my friends."

Skylar gives Macy one last hug, a warm and tight one.

"Macy, you HAVE to come back."

"I'll never forget you, Sky. Thank you for being my friend."

Skylar gives Macy a kiss on the cheek. The peacekeeper swings the door open, and Skylar leaves before she will be forced out by other means. The peacekeeper closes the door and Macy is left on her own. She looks at the dandelion she and Skylar picked this morning, but she can't get Skylar's last actions off her mind. She somehow feels attached to her now, but she doesn't really know the feeling. She just can't forget Skylar now.

 _Maybe this is the token she wants to give me,_ Macy thinks.

* * *

"You buffoon!" Ogon says in a fancy tone as he enters the room. "Are you serious with this kind of action!?"

"Yes, yes I am," Dorian replies fancily.

"You're an idiot! You're sending yourself to a fight to your death, just because you want to look for your grandfather."

"I will do everything to find out what happened to my grandfather."

"You can't just leniently walk around the Capitol! You're a tribute now."

"I know what to do in order to find the answer to this."

"What the hell!?"

"Trust me."

"You're an idiot."

"You already told me. Thanks!"

"Ugh!" Ogon turns away. Not long after, he and Dorian hears some knocks on the door.

"Dorian!"

"It is your mother and father!"

Three more knocks.

"I'm going," says Ogon.

"No! I don't wanna talk to them."

"You're an…"

"…idiot. I get it."

Ogon decides to shut up from here on. Dorian's parents can be faintly heard saying things, but Dorian is zoning out with the way he fidgets things and makes other random noises Dorian's father is a businessman, while his mother was an actress before she was married. They know what happened to Cesare, but now they regret lying to Dorian, because they are losing him already. They never knew he would be in the games this year, because they know Dorian would never take tesserae, and that there is little to no chance he would be reaped. They only came when they heard the news, but Dorian refuses to see them one last time. They continue to say aloud from outside what happened to Cesare, but Dorian remains ignorant from the inside.

"Dorian, open that door, now!"

"Right, Ogon. You might want to reconsider staying here as well."

Ogon gets up and goes out. Dorian unlocks and opens the door. Ogon goes out, and before Dorian's parents go in, he calls the peacekeepers.

"Dorian, please forgive us," Marcus says, not knowing whether Dorian has heard what he has been shouting for the past minutes. Anastasa says one last time, "Dorian, we love you!"

As they are pulled away, Dorian leaves himself alone, in peace. He thinks of what he wants to do, and what he should do, once he gets to the Capitol. Revenge is the only thing in his mind now. He is getting closer to his desired goal.

 _Grandpa, I need an answer, and I will find out soon,_ Dorian thinks.

* * *

AN:

We have finally reached the halfway point of the reapings, and this would not have been possible without the support and/or submissions from you.

Credits to CelticGames4 for some fanart over here: seaweed-hands-from-hell (period) rlbmut [spelled backwards] (period) com (slash) post (slash) 149823081536 (slash) this-is-some-art-i-did-for-platriums-syot-on  
I have received another fanart before this one, but I'll show it next time when we get to the interviews.

I have a poll up on my profile, because I am indecisive of _it_. Please check it out!

I have all slots filled, but I am still accepting tributes. Don't be afraid to submit to any of the remaining slots that are indicated as TAKEN. Most submissions are decent, but there could be better ones out there. I also have higher standards for career tributes, so I don't think I will be closing D1 and D4 until I start writing their reaping chapters, although I have received a lot of good career submissions.

I don't know when I can get the next chapter out, but I'm glad school is not killing me with too much work, yet. We'll be moving to D12 for the next chapter, so stay tuned!


	11. D12 Reapings: I'll Be Fine

Jasmine Whital and Dante Blackwell are in the forest hunting for food.

"Dante, snares," Jasmine tells him while she takes out the crossbow from her bag. Dante prepares making the snares as he's told.

It's a usual thing for both of them to do this. It's their way of bringing home food for their families. They both wait for animals, but their luck today is worse compared to their luck on any other day.

"This is odd," says Jasmine.

They wait for about an hour and a half. Dante and Jasmine take turns walking around the forest, but no potential food approaches their lair. Jasmine gets bored at one point and starts a conversation.

"I miss my mom, and my sister too."

Dante looks at her, and looks back down. "Me too. We didn't have money to buy the medicine."

"Yeah, same."

Dante looks at Jasmine's bag and notices a book inside. "May I borrow your book?" Jasmine takes it out and gives it to Dante. He looks at the book to see that it's a manual for surviving in the wild. He leafs through the pages, and he carefully reads the one about snares. He didn't know there are more intricate ones that exist in comparison with the snares he currently knows how to build.

"Dante, you need to know more than just making snares. Let me teach you how to use the crossbow."

Dante closes the book and pays attention to Jasmine's actions. She shoots for a nearby tree.

"You should try." Jasmine hands Dante the crossbow. "Hold it like this." She helps him adjust the position of holding the crossbow. Dante tries to shoot the same tree, but misses it completely.

"Let me show you." Jasmine takes the crossbow once more and hits the tree. "Your turn." She gives him the crossbow and he tries once again. This time, it went too high. Jasmine takes the crossbow from him once more, but she doesn't aim for the tree. She shoots for the wild boar that finally appears. There are also other sounds nearby, and Dante goes to check his snares.

"It looks like we'll call this a day." They both head home to the same direction, since they are neighbors who became close after losing their mothers, and sister as well for Jasmine's case.

"Don't forget, tomorrow is reaping day." Jasmine reminds it to Dante before they both go inside their respective houses. Dante gives her a thumbs up.

"Oh my gosh!" is the first thing Dante hears after entering his house, which doesn't look much. "Dante, did you see my book!? It was right here!"

"I don't know, Ebony."

"Ugh!"

Ebony makes loud thumps as she walks away. Dante just brushes off her younger sister's anger. It's called normal to him. He is about to use the washroom, but he sees his older sister cleaning the place.

"Oh hello, Dante. You're home!" Ember greets. "The tesserae came just today. You should eat."

"I'm fine." Ember goes back singing, while Dante leaves the rabbits he caught today at the kitchen. He sees Ebony eating the tesserae food.

Dante goes to the bedroom instead to read more about snares. He also has a book for himself, but he just like Jasmine's book more, because he has read his several times already. After Ember finishes cleaning the washroom, she prepares for dinner. Dante uses the washroom for a while, and when he comes out, Bronn is already home.

"How's work, Dad?" Ember asks.

"Normal." He changes from his mining outfit afterwards. Everybody in the house waits for Ember to call them for dinner, which she eventually does.

The whole dinner is about Ebony ranting on how stressed she is looking for her book. Dante doesn't give a listening ear as he just looks around the house to see what's new after Ember's household chores. Dante feels forgotten as Bronn and Ember listen to Ebony attentively, but he's okay with it. He actually prefers it that way.

After dinner, Ebony continues to look for her book, while Bronn and Ember both help her search for it. They eventually find it, and Ember irons everybody's clothes for tomorrow. When she's done, she goes to the room they all share.

"I'm done ironing all your clothes."

Dante looks at it. It's a pair of brown trousers with a long gray tunic.

"Tomorrow is my last reaping," Ember says. "If I make it out, I'll sing to everyone."

Dante just nods in silence. Bronn and Ebony are asleep by this time.

"Good night, Dante!" Ember blows off the candle, and the world around them goes dark.

* * *

Corinna Pickett wakes up early enough to see the sun rise from the horizon. She goes outside and stretches for the morning. "Good morning, District Twelve!" She stretches some more before going for a jog around the neighborhood. Well, she plans to do that, then go to the meadows. She always loves a good view of nature.

"Good morning, Mister Blackwell!" she greets while he waves back.

She arrives at the meadows not long after. She gets a better look of the rising sun. She knows it's bad for her eyes, so she doesn't stare at it for too long. She looks at the flowers around her. They are not much, for she knows other districts have more flowers in their meadows. Nevertheless, she looks at every flower like they are all significant to her. She smells her surroundings, and stretches some more.

"What a nice morning!" she says with a breath of fresh air. She wants to go wandering around the forest, but today is reaping today. She'll be late if she goes wandering, because she knows she'll get out later than she expects. She decides to go home instead, jogging.

As she gets back, she's greeted with her father and brother already finishing up breakfast.

"Good morning Dad! Good morning John!" Corinna says. "Today is reaping day."

"It's my last," adds John.

"I'm halfway through, so I think that's close to my last."

"Go eat now, Corinna," says Quint.

"Yes, Dad. Where is Mom?"

"She's still asleep. Don't disturb her."

Amy comes out from her bedroom.

"Good morning, Mom!"

"Have you eaten breakfast, dear?"

"Nope, not yet. Let's have it together." Corinna says it with a bright smile.

"Why are you so happy on reaping day?" John asks.

"Life is too short to be sad, John." She smiles once again.

Corinna eats breakfast with her mom. John and Quint prepare for the reapings. Corinna eats her bread fast, so she can prepare sooner. She goes to the room to get her overall dress, which was already prepared the night before. She is already wearing a white shirt, so she just puts the overall dress over what she's already wearing.

"I look good!" Corinna says with optimism. "I'm ready for today!"

She makes it out of the house with her parents and brother. She looks at the sky and says, "Why is the sky blue? Why do clouds float?" Her family doesn't really know the answer, so it looks like they are ignoring her.

"Good morning, Mister Whital!" Corinna greets.

"Good morning!" he replies. Jasmine is following her dad. They are headed to the reapings too.

Corinna doesn't keep a lot of friends close to her, but she likes talking to people, especially those around the neighborhood.

"You're Jasmine, right?"

"Yeah."

"I'm Corinna, fifteen years old."

"Nice to meet you." They both shake hands. "I'm fifteen as well."

"Are you an only child?"

"I had a little sister. She died with my mom four years ago when the flu came."

"Oh, I'm sorry. I almost lost my mom from the same flu."

"Well, you should be glad you still have a complete family."

They both smile, then Corinna starts another topic.

"Have you ever wondered what this world has?"

"Um, no?"

"Do you think it's a flat world that extends forever?"

"Um, I don't know."

"Oh it's okay."

Corinna is about to talk more about the world she is curious about, but they register themselves for the reapings. They aren't too early, but they aren't late as well. Corinna goes on an endless talk about the world and what she thinks about it, but the escorts comes, and Jasmine doesn't have time to respond to her.

"District Twelve! I'm once again so excited escorting for the best district ever!" The escort says. She is all covered in white, whether it'd be her clothing or her skin. She is wearing pink boots and gloves, as well as bows with flowing ribbons above her left and right ears and also by her neck. The ribbons are pink at the center and white on the rest, while the white ribbons flow really long with the tips ending in the colors pink, blue, and light blue. She seems to be wearing a headband with animal-esque ears, colored pink on the outer portion and blue on the front's center.

"The video is long and lame," she says. "Do you want to skip it?"

Only a few respond, but she can't hear a person saying no.

"Okay! So all we have to know is that the dark days blah blah blah and the mockingjay rebellion blah blah blah." A lot laugh in amusement with the way she is saying it. "Oh come on! I'm pretty sure y'all are sick of hearing it, so I just have to summarize it like that."

More people around the area laugh.

"Let's start then!" She turns around to reveal her pink tail. She also puts her blue fairy-esque shades up, to reveal her shiny blue contact lenses. She goes to the girl's reaping bowl first and quickly draws out a name.

"Drum roll!" she says. She waits, and it comes after a while. "District Twelve's female tribute is…"

The eligible girls all wait in suspense, some trying to hold back faces of anxiety. After what seems like three minutes since she draws the name from the reaping bowl, she finally announces the name.

"Corinna Pickett!"

The girl with joyful, round, brown eyes and straight light brown hair from the fifteen-year-old section is awestruck. She tries to smile brightly with her youthful and innocent face. She remains optimistic and tries to be as confident as she can, but the thin and fair-skinned girl with an average height stumbles to the stage slightly, trying to keep up a smile as hard as she can.

"I know this is a sensitive question, so you don't have to answer it," the escort says. "How are you feeling now?"

"I'm surprised," she says while still holding on to her smile.

"Now for the boys!" She picks a slip from the bottom of the bowl. "Aha!" she says as she grabs the paper out. "Drum roll, please!"

The drum rolls sooner than it did earlier for the girls'.

"District 12 will be represented by Corinna Pickett and…"

The eligible boys try to remain calm, but the suspense is making most of them wanting to explode. Anxious stares are waiting for the escort's lips to move, while also waiting for the name of the reaped tribute to be called.

"Dante Blackwell!"

The short, skinny, and stern-looking boy with olive skin and gray eyes takes a deep breath as he moves from the fourteen-year-old section. His black hair covers his face, but that's also because of the fact that he is looking down. He moves silently to the stage, to be asked with the same question.

"Same rules apply. How are you feeling now?"

He looks up shortly to shake his head in reply to the question.

"District Twelve, let us support our tributes in this year's hunger games!" The escort waits for a round of applause, but realizes that this is sending two teenagers to their deaths, not just some random show with many excited audiences. "I'm sorry, wrong setting. Anyway, let us wish our tributes good luck, hoping that one of them will make it home."

Silence fills the area, then Corinna optimistically says, "Yeah!"

"That's the spirit!" She lets the two tributes shake hands.

"Once again, I am Evezleya von Evezelle running for… I'm sorry, wrong universe." She clears her throat. "Once again, I am Evezleya von Evezelle, your escort for the third time, District Twelve!" She is not aware that she forgot to introduce herself at the start of the reapings.

* * *

Dante looks down on floor, thinking what he should do next. He knows there's nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. He begins strategizing for the games, but his family comes in.

Bronn starts, "Son, I may not be around all the time, but I want to let you know that I love you." He sniffs. "I am proud to have you as my son."

"Dante, life is worth fighting for. You have to come back!" Ember says. "I know you can fight your way through, so please do."

Dante nods. Bronn then tells him, "Son, I suggest you look for a girl on your last days of life."

"Dad, he's coming back for us! Don't be such a pessimist."

"Okay, okay."

Ebony then comes closer furiously. "Brother! Why are you leaving us!? Mom already left us, and now you!?"

"Ebony, this is not my fault."

"THEN COME BACK! I KNOW YOU WANT TO LEAVE!"

Dante just stays silent. He understands that his ten-year-old sister doesn't know much yet.

"I'll try?" Dante says.

"No!" says Ember in a worrisome tone. "You really have to, please. You're the only little brother I have."

Dante stares at the gray eyes of his eighteen-year-old sister before saying, "Okay."

"Yay! We're gonna celebrate once you come back. We don't wanna lose you like how we lost mother."

"Okay."

Dante exchanges his last hugs with his dad and older sister. Jasmine comes in not long after Dante's family leaves.

Jasmine starts with a tight hug. "Dante, I need you to listen to me."

He nods.

"During training, you need to focus on your strengths, but also learn new things. Focus on how to make traps, do well in hiding, learn camouflage, et cetera. If you want to come home, you have to learn how to attack. Were you learning something when I was teaching you how to use the crossbow?

Dante nods.

"Good. Please pay attention to your strengths. Only you know what you're good at and what you're bad at. I suggest you get at least one ally, but I won't force you on it. Just make sure you have a good strategy working, because only you can help yourself now."

He doesn't speak but just nods once more.

"Please do well. I'm counting on you to come home. You're one of my only friends still by my side."

He nods, then says, "I will."

"Please take this. Remember that I'm always with you."

Jasmine gives Dante an acorn on a piece of string. It's the one thing Dante always notices Jasmine bringing around her all the time.

"Be strong." Jasmine leaves in tears, trying to cope up with the situation.

Dante looks at the small token he received. _I have a strategy ready. I just have to execute it properly._

* * *

Corinna waits in the building looking confused, but inside she feels a mix of good and bad emotions.

 _I'm gonna be okay. At least I'll get to see the Capitol. I'm gonna leave my family for a while. I'll be fine._

Her family comes in.

Quint says, "Corinna, we're gonna miss you."

Her whole family is already in tears, but Corinna tries to remain positive with the situation.

"It's okay, Dad. If I don't come back, remember that I will always be with you, in your heart."

"How could you say such a thing?" Amy says while wiping her face with tissue.

"I'll be fine, Mom. Life goes on."

Nobody speaks for a while.

"All is well. I'll try to win for me to come back, but if I don't, you are all fine. It's me who is in trouble."

"We are feeling troubled for you, Corinna," John adds.

"Don't."

"But we are family," Quint says. "I am worried for my only daughter."

"Hmmm…" Corinna tries to think of a way to make it sound optimistic for her family.

"We don't know whether you're coming back or not," Amy says tearily.

"I will." Corinna says it with sincerity.

"Are you sure?" asks John.

"Oh come on, I'll be fine." Corinna tries to smile.

"Make sure you are not lying to yourself," John says.

"I'm trying to make this as happy as possible. Don't you see?"

"There's nothing happy when you are going to die." Quint gets more tissue from Amy.

"We're gonna miss you," Amy says.

"If I don't come back, my spirit will." Corinna closes her eyes for a while.

 _What skills do I have to fight well!? Maybe I am doomed, but maybe not._

"Life in our family won't be the same without you," John adds.

"I know. Just hope I come home. Wish me luck!"

After moments of tears and emotions, Corinna gives her parents one last hug and kiss on the cheek, and she gives John a tight hug too.

* * *

AN:

2 of the SYOTs I was following finished, and each of them had a sequel, so I was busy submitting my tributes to them. That's my excuse for why this update took so long.

I don't know when my next update will be. I will be on vacation to another land, and then I will have countless of school outputs after that. I hope to finish all the reapings before the end of the year, and that's the goal I'm setting for now.

Next, we'll move to the career district, District 1. I have the male tribute decided, but not the female tribute. I received 3 submissions that are equally or almost equally good, and their submitters only submitted to the D1F slot, nowhere else. It shows how competitive career slots are, and female slots too. :D Speaking of female slots, I've been receiving more female submissions than male ones, so if you want a tribute in my SYOT, better submit a male tribute soon. ;) If you are not confident with your submission (because I have not yet written his or her reaping chapter), you can PM me about it or submit an entirely new tribute.

That's all for now! I hope you enjoyed this one. :)


	12. D1 Reapings: Make District 1 Great Again

Luster Luminium and Argentum Montgomery stay on the sofa playing video games on a rainy day.

"Should we go to the academy to check who the chosen volunteers are?"

"Nah." Argentum replies. A few seconds later, he screams, "HAH! In your face!"

"What the fuck, dude?" says the pissed Luster as he loses in the video game.

Argentum checks his mobile phone to see a text from his best female friend.

"No way! Brilliant is the chosen volunteer."

"You're kidding me, dude."

Argentum shows Luster the text message.

"Well, I didn't see that coming. Can you ask her who the guy is?"

"Nah, who cares about the guy. I'm volunteering tomorrow."

"Dude, that sounds like a joke."

"No, I'm serious. I'm gonna prove to my shit-faced brother that I deserve all that Montgomery fortune."

"You have a complicated family, dude."

"My grandfather gave my father, uncle, and aunts a family policy. Whoever among them was the most successful by 21 gets to inherit all of the Montgomery riches. The others will have to work hard to be rich."

"So your dad got it?"

"Yeah, and he's imposing that policy on my shit-faced brother and the awesome me."

"Dude, you sound like a pissed underdog."

"Aurum works for the mayor. He is just eighteen months older than I am, but my dad is favoring him. If I volunteer, and then win the hunger games, I will surely be the best in my dad's eyes."

"There are only two of you. Shouldn't it be the better?"

"Whatever. I don't care about that."

Argentum's phone makes a short ring. He checks to see a message from Brilliant.

"She's inviting us to the academy party tonight."

"Woohoo! Maybe I should go home now."

"Nah, you can do that later. Let's play some more."

"Dude, this is why your brother and father doesn't like you."

"I don't care. I was born in this world to have everything come to me. If I can laze off for another hour or so, it's completely fine."

"Dude, if you think volunteering is the only way to let your father change his mind…"

"Yeah, yeah. He will. He just better wait, and so should you!"

"Dude, I'm going home to prepare, because I'm not as lazy as you are."

"Laziness is a blessing! You can stay as relaxed as you want without…"

Luster makes the sound of the door closing. He's not mad, he's just disappointed in Argentum, and he doubts his success in the hunger games. Besides, there will be a chosen volunteer from the Academy after all.

Argentum continues to play some video games on the sofa. He has trained, so he knows he can win it. He's not the best, but he has the skills.

Hours later, he gets prepared for the academy party. He wears his best tuxedo, and then his favorite shoes, before leaving the house.

 _Why does it have to rain today!? Good thing I can call the driver._

He calls the driver to fetch him, and he finds out his brother is also coming along.

"Why can't I be the older brother!?" He says with an exaggerated eyeroll. He waits for the limousine to arrive. Once it does, he sees his brother inside.

"Hello, brother," greets Aurum. "Guess who the chosen volunteer is?"

"You!?"

"Nope, I purposefully came in second because it'd be a waste if I die in the arena and not inherit Father's riches." Aurum laughs a bit for his smart plan. He knows the laugh will piss his brother off, so he changes the tone, hinting towards malice from craftiness.

Argentum is obviously not happy about this. He is gritting his teeth as the sentence replays in his head.

 _Why the fuck do I have a brother!?_

Silence fills the rest of the ride to the ballroom. Once they arrive, they go look for their respective friends. The event goes as planned. At the end of the party, Argentum, Luster, and Brilliant are already drunk. Aurum sees his brother, and scoffs at his brother's actions. Aurum goes home ahead of his brother.

Luster says drunkly, "This drink is the best!"

"Argentum, I'd love you to take me home." Brilliant hiccups uncontrollably. Argentum is a bit surprised with what he just heard from Brilliant.

"Let's go." Argentum brings her upstairs, to one of the hidden washrooms in the building.

"Babe, I'm gonna win the hunger games this year."

Argentum doesn't reply, but he kisses her. The two are too drunk to remember what else they did.

* * *

"Bentley, wait. I'm going to the washroom." Annaleigh St. Cloud checks the nearest washroom, but it's locked. She can hear voices, but she goes to the washroom upstairs instead.

"What the hell!?" Annaleigh finds Argentum and Brilliant asleep on the floor, partially naked. She does what she has to do in the bathroom, but she just leaves them there, still sleeping.

Annaleigh goes home with his best friend Bentley. She likes keeping him around, but she really likes staying with boys in general. She finds them less dramatic, less complicated, and more predictable than girls. They ride the limousine home.

"So… the reapings are tomorrow."

Annaleigh looks at her watch, "Later." It is already past midnight after all.

"At least we don't have to worry about our lives. I mean, we've trained, but we don't have to worry about dying because of the hunger games if we don't want to."

Annaleigh silently thinks about the female volunteer.

"We can trust Brilliant and Loricus this year."

Silence, before Annaleigh says, "I disagree."

"Why?"

 _I can't tell him what I saw, or can I? Actually, I should not let that judgment determine whether I trust Brilliant or not._

"District One is overdue for a win. We used to get victors about three to four times per decade, as history class told us."

"Hmmm… good point."

"With the twists being implemented, it's even difficult for the six-member career pack to remain intact after the bloodbath. It's not just the twists though, there are also those stronger and more aggressive outliers."

"We can't do anything about it, can we?"

"I'm not sure."

Not long after, Annaleigh reaches her house.

"Bye!" Bentley says. Annaleigh replies, "Bye!" as well with a hand wave.

She gets home to find nobody in the house.

"Mom, Dad, I'm home!"

The sound of crickets fill her surroundings. She goes to their bedroom only to find a note. She takes it and reads it.

"Annaleigh, we are at the hospital, but there's no need to worry." She wonders if it's because of her mother relapsing again from anorexia. If she's told not to worry, she thinks she doesn't have to. Inside her, she feels somewhat worried though.

Annaleigh takes out her cellphone to call Bentley. Not long after, Bentley's limousine comes back to fetch Annaleigh.

"What happened to your parents?"

"I don't know! I want to check on them."

It doesn't take long for them to get to the hospital. Annaleigh sees her mother right after.

"There you are sweetheart." Carson gives Annaleigh a hug. Bentley is awkwardly waiting behind.

"What happened?"

"Your dad was slicing potatoes, but he accidentally sliced off a part of his finger."

"Ooh!" Annaleigh cringes at that thought. "At least you're alright. I was worried it was you."

"I'm fine, dear." They smile at each other. It wasn't long until her father came out with his right middle finger wrapped.

Robert gives Annaleigh and Carson a hug. "I'm okay, dear. It's just clumsy me."

"Bentley and his driver can take us home."

"Oh how nice!" Carson says.

Bentley and his driver delivers the St. Cloud family home. They prepare to go to bed to sleep once home. The rain stops in the middle of the night. Several hours later, Annaleigh prepares for the reapings. Reapings start later in District One compared to the reapings in other districts, due to it being closer to the Capitol when compared to the Capitol's distance to another district.

"Good morning!" Annaleigh greets her parents.

"Good morning, sweetheart!" says Carson.

"Where's Dad?"

"He's just getting some fresh air outside."

Robert enters the house. "I called Bill to help me manage the factory for the coming days."

"That's good, dear."

The St. Cloud family may not be the richest family in the district, but money is not a problem with Robert owning a diamond factory. Annaleigh eats her breakfast, then goes back upstairs to change for the reapings. She takes out her favorite pink sundress from the wardrobe. She goes back down and tells her parents she's leaving.

"Are you volunteering, dear?" Carson asks.

She thinks, then says, "Maybe." She doesn't sound unconfident, but she doesn't sound so sure as well.

"We'll be at the square to see what happens." Robert smiles, and the whole room becomes brighter.

"Okay." Annaleigh wears her white heels and says, "Goodbye!"

Carson replies, "Bye sweetheart!

"May the odds be ever in your favor!" Robert adds.

She leaves the house and walks to the square. On the way, she meets up with her best friend. They treat each other like brother and sister.

"Octavius!"

"Wazzup Annaleigh!"

They chat for a while, then the conversation shifts to last night.

"Brilliant, the female volunteer!?" asks Octavius.

"Yup, I'm very concerned with our district's victories lately, but I have a plan."

"Oh?"

"I think I should volunteer. I can put my strategic mindset to good use, and maybe I can keep the careers intact after the bloodbath. Who knows? Maybe I can get District 1 a win after more than a decade."

"Well, if you're volunteering, then I wish you the best of luck, sis!" There is uncertainty in his voice.

They arrive at the square just on time. She proceeds to the seventeen-year-old section and waits patiently for the reapings to start. After a while, she realizes it's getting late.

A lady with an average height makes her way to the stage, and then to the mic. She is wearing dark make-up heavily, and her brown hair is tied in a bun. She has narrow hazel eyes, and she is wearing a simple yet extravagant red dress. She taps on the mic and say, "Sorry District One. Our escort had an emergency this morning."

The people of District One recognizes that person. "For formality's sake, I am Ace Starling, District One's last victor from the 124th games."

A round of applause she is given.

"Instead of that dull video which we do not have, I want to give everyone a motivational speech."

There are many excited faces in the crowd, but there are also faces that say they don't want a speech.

"It's been a long time since District One has won the crown. What happened to us? We even had three wins in a row on our record. But today, the Capitol just sees us as trained fools, usually without a brain. We need to fight for victory, and we need volunteers who will take home the crown for us. Will it be you? Or you? Or you? Or it could be any of you. I don't care if you are the selected volunteer, because the volunteers we've selected for more than a decade have let us down. They became disappointments. Do you want me to see you as a disappointment once you're dead? I'm pretty sure you don't! I have mentored countless of tributes, yet none of them could bring home the crown for me. We need another victor! Does everybody understand?"

"Yes!" some people reply aloud.

"Well then, I do not have the reaping balls. It's with the escort. Good thing that won't matter. Now, do me a favor, volunteer only if you're confident that you won't disappoint me."

"I volunteer!" says Argentum and Loricus at the same time. The chosen volunteer glares at Argentum, while the seventeen-year-old makes his way to the stage quickly. Loricus is fast, but Argentum decides to be smart by climbing and crawling to the front of the stage without using the stairs. Loricus uses the stairs, and he reaches for the microphone, but Argentum knocks him off before he could reach it from his hands.

"Hey!" Loricus says.

Ace says, "Fool, he was smart enough to climb the stage like that. Get back there! You don't deserve it."

Loricus worries for his reputation once the recap is aired.

"Just say your name. I don't have the escort to ask for your stupid reason to volunteer."

The guy is six feet tall. He has curly blonde hair and fair skin, as well as dull blue eyes and a pointed nose. He has muscles and cheekbones too, and he introduces himself to the crowd with a hint of laziness in his voice. "My name is Argentum Montgomery, and I will be the next victor of District One!"

A few people boo him, but a few cheers can be heard too. He trained, but he is not as well known as other tribute candidates.

"Ladies?"

Annaleigh looks at the girls shouting at each other.

"You should volunteer!"

"Shut up, bitch!"

"No one is volunteering!"

 _Are typical girls really this dramatic!?_

"Ladies, anyone?" Ace repeats.

While the girls around Annaleigh are still quarreling, she realizes that Brilliant is absent.

 _I really have a chance, eh? This must be a sign._

Annaleigh walks forward, and many girls her age react aloud in shock.

"That tomboy bitch!"

"She's pretty, but she doesn't even have a boyfriend!"

"She thinks she can outrun me!"

By the time another volunteer tries to run to the stage with great speed, Annaleigh is already holding the mic.

"Too late! You should've reacted earlier! If I let you volunteer, you will be a disgrace to the district. You weren't thinking quick enough!" Ace criticizes. She's definitely one strict mentor to be feared of. "Carry on, brave girl!"

Just two inches shorter than the male volunteer, this gal has long and wavy dirty blonde hair with pale skin and turquoise eyes. She says with confidence, "I am Annaleigh St. Cloud, and I will show everyone that District One is not all about stupid girls who overreact dramatically." She can see offended faces and hear insulting murmurs on the seventeen- and eighteen-year-old sections.

"Silence! She is right."

The crowd gasps in surprise. Ace says, "I wish I wasn't the last one to prove that. Well then, we have your tributes for the 140th hunger games, Argentum Montgomery and Annaleigh St. Cloud!"

Most people give them a round of applause while Ace tells them to shake hands.

* * *

"Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! I'm so proud of you, son!" Ruby says in an over-excited tone.

"Of course you are!" Argentum replies with a smirk.

"Remember to bring back the title to us. Ace Starling was our last victor, and she was still from the 124th! If you are as disciplined as she is, you will win for us baby!"

"Yeah, yeah." That smirk is still evident on his face.

"You also have to show how handsome you are! The Capitolites will love you, and will give you sponsor goodies! You need to be presentable. You need lots of charm. You need to have a good strategy."

 _Strategy, huh?_

"Yeah, yeah." The smirk fades a little. He realizes his mom is getting annoying. His dad has not even spoken to him yet.

"You know which berries are poisonous, dear. You also know which ones are not."

"Yeah, yeah." By this time, the smirk is gone. She is getting into his nerves.

"You trained for good my boy, so do your best!"

"I will, Mom!" His smile brightens in the speed of light.

"Hmmm…" Courage starts. "Just do good, don't fail, and keep up the… work, good work, okay work." He's not really satisfied with Argentum's performance in the past years. His strictness is able to let Aurum discipline himself, but not Argentum unfortunately.

"I will." The smirk is back.

"Good luck my baby boy!" Ruby says. "You're gonna get your mommy so proud of you once you win the 140th hunger games! I can finally tell my students that my son is a victor! I can then teach the strategies you used, the possible events that happened, the allies you can get, but the best part: I get to teach my classes about how great my son is! EEEEE!"

"Woohoo!" says Argentum with a round of half-energetic applause.

"What fun for a games history teacher, right?" Ruby says. "Goodbye dear!"

"Goodbye son," says Courage in a less excited tone.

"Yippee!" says Argentum. He's quite glad his 'shit-faced' brother does not want to visit him.

His best friend comes in next.

"Dude, I am here to support you!" Luster high fives with Argentum. Inside Luster, he doesn't really think he will win, and he is saddened by that big possibility.

"Awesome!"

"I'm going to place my bet on you." Luster knows he's lying to himself, just like Argentum to himself most of the time.

"I'm so proud to have a friend like you. Where's Brilliant?"

"She overslept. Very pathetic move for the chosen volunteer."

 _Pathetic!?_ "Well, at least I'm here to represent her!"

"That's the good thing, dude."

They bump fists with each other. They stare awkwardly at each other.

"What now?" asks Argentum.

"Do you wanna call Brilliant?"

Someone knocks on the door, but it doesn't sound like the peacekeeper knock.

"I'll get going, dude. See you when ya come back!"

Brilliant comes in as Luster opens the door to exit.

"I can't believe I messed up!" Brilliant said in a worried tone.

"It's okay. I'm here." That smirk reappears, and Brilliant only gives him a hug.

"There's nothing I can do, but at least you'll get to represent us."

"Yeah!"

"Good luck on this! The district has their faith on you."

"Sure!"

They maximize the time they are given, before Brilliant has to leave it all to Argentum.

 _I'm gonna make Father proud._ He smirks at this thought.

* * *

Annaleigh waits in the room patiently. Bentley is the first person to come and visit.

"Hi, um…"

Both of them stare at each other awkwardly.

"Good luck!"

"Thanks!" Annaleigh knows that he has feelings for her, and she hates to admit that she has a bit for him too. _It's never gonna work out anyway._

"I know you can do this. You were so brave out there."

"Yeah, haha! I wonder what the other districts will think of me."

"Since our reapings were much later than the rest, there's a rumor that the careers seem very badass this year."

"Really?"

"What you did out there makes you one, and that fool of a guy too with his actions."

"Wow! I hope we can keep ourselves intact after the bloodbath."

They chat some more before it's her parents turn to say goodbye.

Robert exchanges hugs with Annaleigh, then Carson does the same to Annaleigh.

"You make me so proud, sweetheart." Carson says it with a smile.

"I will make you prouder when I come home." Annaleigh gives her a bigger smile.

"We know you will do well," Robert says. "Being chess champ is one thing, being hunger games victor is another."

"You can do it, girl!"

"Thanks Mom! Thanks Dad!"

"Take this with you," Robert takes out a locket from his pocket.

Annaleigh opens it and sees their family picture from a dozen years ago. She was still so little, and she misses those moments where she gets to run freely around with boys his age.

"Thanks dad!"

Annaleigh exchanges hugs with her parents once more. They talk a little more about strategy before it's Octavius's turn to say his goodbye to Annaleigh. Octavius looks more stressed than he usually is.

"Sis, you have to make sure you got this in the bag!"

"I do! I know what to do."

"People who are mentored under Ace don't come back."

There is an awkward silence, as if what he said is wrong.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way. You did listen to her speech, right?"

"Yes! I know I can win this for her."

Annaleigh remains confident to win this. She knows she is not crossing the line of overconfidence. After Ace's speech, she knows she is the next tribute and victor District One needs.

Octavius gets teary. "I'm so nervous for you, sis. You better come back alive."

"I will! You know what I can do, and you know that I have what it takes to win it."

"You better." Octavius smiles in the middle of tears. "I wish you the best of luck, sis."

"I will be back to make all of you proud, bro."

They smile at each other before the peacekeeper knocks, indicating that it's almost time. Octavius and Annaleigh exchange one last hug before he leaves the room.

 _Am I really the victor District One needs? I guess I'll find out._

* * *

AN:

1\. I didn't know that deleting the other chapter was considered an "update" because the update date updated recently before this chapter was even out.

2\. I plan to have the next chapter out along with this one, but I think I can get it out within 24 hours more or less from this update. It shouldn't take long since I'm just missing the last segment.

3\. If you haven't checked out the SYOT Alliance Forum, please do. :D The link is on my profile, somewhere near the bottom. Credits to CelticGames4 (or Celtic) for this once again!

4\. I have already closed all the remaining slots I haven't. I decided to lower my standards, but I hope I'll write the others well enough. I'll reveal all the names once I have everything finalized. As for those submitters who were not able to get a tribute into my story, there will be a consolation prize or another opportunity to make up for the loss.

5\. I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)


	13. Capitol Women: Motives of the Selfless

Doctor Flore takes a look at the forms. "Two applicants only? You got to be kidding me."

She reads through the filled application forms. She finds both applicants interesting, but she is definitely unsatisfied with what she has. She reaches out her phone to call someone.

"Hello, Halizeia speaking."

"May I speak to the vice president?"

"Ah Doctor President! One moment please. Dad!" Other sounds are heard. "Hello, Makker speaking."

"Makker, we only have two people applying for stunts. I was honestly expecting more. The reapings will be in two days."

"Doctor President, we don't have too many people known for stunts, especially just around the Capitol."

"Then what would you suggest?"

"We can only try to pass this message around, somehow."

"I'll send you the link, and I'll leave this up to you."

"Yes doc."

Doctor Flore hangs up. "I'm quite disappointed."

Meanwhile back at the De Kabaitan residences, Halizeia eavesdrops to the whole conversation from another phone connected to the one Makker is using. Makker hangs up the phone, not knowing how to spread the application form.

He goes to the computer to check his email. He stares at the form, still thinking how to spread this. He doesn't know what to do, so he looks for an avox in his big mansion. During that time, Halizeia sneaks into his room and uses his laptop. She sends the link to herself, using her dad's email. She does not leave an evidence before leaving his room.

"Auguste, get me some decaf." Makker hands the avox some money. He then goes to his room to stare at his laptop screen once more.

On another room, Halizeia's specifically, she inspects what the form is about. There are guidelines, so she reads them carefully.

"The Hunger Games, eh? This better be interesting." She fills up the form in curiosity.

Halizeia has brown skin since she has Pacific Islander ancestry. Her eyes are yellow orange with contact lenses on. Her hair is a mix of light blue, dark blue, purple, and black. Black is the natural color, but she has galaxy-colored hair. She was adopted by Makker solely when she was still a baby. She was only told about this on her eighth birthday.

"Hmmm…" She thinks what this will bring her. There's money to it, but she doesn't need it. _What is life like joining the hunger games?_

She fills up the form thinking of other things. She does not need the money, but she wants this games to be successful.

"I can help fill the slots to make this the most special hunger games yet," she says softly to herself.

She thinks of her life for the past 22 years. Living in a rich mansion isn't much. She's satisfied with it, but if life is going to be this dull, it won't be worth living. She wants to travel, to go out to vast lands. Is it even possible? She knows there are vast lands out there, but Panem barely accepts immigrants. She knows she might not see these vast lands, ever. The hunger games can still be an adventure though.

She clicks the submit button after filling up the whole form. She has mixed feelings about this, because she does not have a goal in life. She wants to do something more than being a daddy's little girl that stays at home most of the time. She can go out with her friends, but her friends aren't as free as she is.

 _If I win the grand prize, maybe I can start a non-government organization._

She goes to call one of her celebrity friends. "Isis, I'm joining the hunger games!" She says it with a tone of excitement.

* * *

"Once upon a time, a girl meets the most handsome guy in town," reads Eltha Duthaulge.

"Mom, can you tell another story?" reacts Seven, an eleven-year-old boy. "I'm sick of hearing your life."

Eltha bites her teeth and hesitantly closes her diary. She tucks Seven into his comforter. "Goodnight dear."

Seven ignores Eltha as she turns the lamp on and turns off the light, before leaving the room. As she exits, she sighs pessimistically from not being appreciated by her only son.

She goes to the living room to watch TV. She turns it on, but she hears a voice she feels annoyed the most.

"Eltha, get me some water," shouts Donnalyn from the room. "I'm thirsty."

She sighs once more as she hears the commanding voice of her mom. Only she has the heart to take care of her mother among she and her six siblings, but she receives not an ounce of appreciation from her mom.

She goes to the kitchen to get her mom some water. She delivers it to her mom's room, and places it on the desk. She sees her mom playing a puzzle game on her tablet.

"Oy, turn on the aircon. It's getting hot in here."

Eltha listens to her mom and turns on the AC. She sighs once again.

"Don't forget to turn off the lights when I'm about to sleep."

"Yes, Mom." She exits her mom's room with another sigh. She is sick of not being appreciated by anyone.

"This is what life is like if you don't have money." She says it to herself as she walks back to her room. "Mom should not underestimate me like this just because I'm the poorest of us siblings. I'm just kind enough to be the only one repaying her." She tries to chuckle to let go, but she is void of any positivity inside.

She was lucky to be born rich, but her mom does not like sharing the wealth. Eltha's siblings left their mother already, because of her attitude and perspective about money.

"I'm the only one who stayed, and I don't know if it's good or not." She thinks of her siblings, each of them leaving the household one by one to start a new life, and leave their annoying mom. "I am selfless, but I want appreciation in return at the very least."

She takes a bag of potato chips from one of her closets and starts to crunch them to enjoy her alone time. "My mom is so spoiled, and my son doesn't appreciate anything I do for him. I know these are responsibilities, but…" She sighs once again. "I guess I can't change them."

She wants to cry, but she's done it too many times back then to the point that she doesn't wanna do it again. It amounts to nothing after all, not even releasing stress.

"My friends are always busy. I hope they make time for me, or did they forget me?" She thinks deeper as she crunches into more potato chips. "I guess I'll never know."

She prepares to go to bed after finishing her potato chips. She brushes her teeth and stares at her depressing look in the mirror. She has turquoise eyes, as well as turquoise and blonde hair. She thinks she's getting old. She is forty-six after all. After brushing her teeth, she lies down on her bed.

"Eltha! My night light." She gets up to go to her mom's room. She turns on her night light and turns off her lights.

"Okay, leave. I'm sleeping." She says it grumpily as she plays another puzzle game from her tablet.

"Goodnight, Mom."

"Night!" It's too grumpy with no hint of appreciation or love. Eltha leaves the room and goes back to hers, of course with another sigh.

"Is this what my life is about?" She makes her way back to her bed. She lies down and picks up her phone to check on social media. She scrolls through different social media accounts, and she checks her email last.

"My emails are always lame. I wonder if my spam says the same."

She goes to her spam box to see five spam mails. "Kidneys, meh. Ads, ads, no. Liver, nah. Hunger Games, what with?"

She checks the last spam mail. It's a random invitation to the Hunger Games, and she reads it aloud.

"Hey, wanna experience the thrill of a lifetime? Come and join the Hunger Games in its 140th year in a chance to win one million dollars! Link to the application form is below." She scrolls a little bit down, and she finds the link to the application form.

"With this money, maybe my mom won't have to underestimate me like this. I have a job, it just doesn't pay me much, but I love it. Money should not be everything, Mom. I'll show you when I get back." At the same time, she thinks of what their lives will be like if she was gone. "They don't appreciate me after all, so they better learn what life will be like without me."

She fills up the form from her mobile phone. She thinks of what happiness was. It was getting married to her best friend, the most handsome guy in the neighborhood. It was having a child with him. It was spending time with him. It was about her dad, when he treated her like she is the favorite child due to her good virtues. It was when she and her siblings were children, when they had all the fun together. It was when she gave birth to Seven, the miraculous child of hers. It was when she met people with the help of her late husband. It was in the past.

"Submit," she says as she presses the button. "Life is never the same with Daddy gone, with Winsworth gone. Happiness will never be back, and it's too late to change the directions of life. After all, their deaths were never my fault."

She lets a tear out. She truly misses being happy, being appreciated. She closes her eyes and relaxes herself to sleep.

"The Hunger Games is gonna be a whole new chapter of my life."

* * *

Being the master of ceremonies isn't really hard. However, there's still more for Isis Ambergayle to learn as a it is only her second year to be the host of this annual event.

"Arf arf!"

Truffles has always been Isis's alarm clock. She gets up groggily and finger-combs her curly pink and blonde hair. She has brown skin and brown eyes. Truffles goes to her lap.

"Good morning, good boy!"

"Arf arf!"

She prepares for the rest of her day ahead of her. She has a new talk show that started only some months ago. She's really careered herself into the media industry. At the age of twenty, she has a talk show by herself and is the master of ceremonies. The previous one gave up her position after trying out the escort life. She juggled being escort and master of ceremonies for a year, but Isis made herself well-known to be the next master of ceremonies after that year.

She prepares for the day. She has a scheduled talk with the vice president's daughter. She picks out a red and black dress from her wardrobe. She wears her shades and her sparkling boots to work today.

"Let's go, Truffles!"

"Arf arf!"

She walks to work with her dog. She goes to the supermarket to buy Truffles some food, then they continue walking to work. As she reaches the studio, she goes to her room. She gives Truffles the food recently bought from the supermarket.

"Stay here." She touches Truffles's nose as she says it. "I will be back when the show us over. Okay?"

"Arf!"

"Good boy!"

Isis makes her way to the backstage. For the show's formality, she waits for some introductory remarks before making her way to her seat on the front stage.

"If you haven't heard of the recent twist in this year's hunger games, it's about Capitolites being granted the chance to apply as a stunt person or role player in this year's arena. Today, one of these so called stunt people is our guest."

Murmurs are heard from the crowd.

"Let us all welcome the daughter of the vice president, Halizeia de Kabaitan!"

Halizeia was given a round of applause as she enters the stage.

"Take a seat, please." Isis stood up for a while, but now she sits with her guest.

"I never thought I'd be in your show one day."

"I thought you're always here!" Isis widens her eyes.

The crowd laughs, because Halizeia always gets a VIP ticket to Isis's show.

Isis says, "Oh please! You are very lucky already."

"I know!"

"I brought you here today as an informal pre-interview session about the games."

"I'm so excited for this!"

"Your phone call says it all. I don't think you have to introduce yourself to everyone, do you?"

"People know me as the vice president's daughter, Halizeia de Kabaitan, but you may call me Hal or Liz for short."

"Your name has many pronunciations."

"I know! I don't even know which one is the correct one anymore."

They both look at the camera. The crowd laughs.

"How do you not know how to pronounce your name properly."

"Come on! I didn't name myself."

The crowd laughs again.

"Alright alright. We're not here to talk about your nam. I'm here to ask you why you applied as a stunt person for the hunger games this year?"

"I found the opportunity exciting. You know, I don't get to go out so often. You yourself can see that because I'm always sitting on that first seat."

The camera slowly rotates to that first seat Halizeia is talking about, and it's currently empty. The crowd laughs.

"If you were that bored, maybe you should've been my co-host all this time!"

"Nah, I don't like staying here too long."

"Okay, okay. Well, do you know what opportunities there will be once you get into the arena."

"I know I'll win some money, and then I can start a non-government organization eventually."

The crowd reacts and gives her a round of applause.

"I see! That is very interesting. Aside from the prize money and being able to explore a whole new world..."

"A whole new world!" sings Halizeia with a nice melody. The crowd cheers and gives her another round of applause. Isis thinks, then continues, "A new fantastic point of view!"

The two look at each other, and continue together, "No one to tell us no, or where to go, or say we're only dreaming."

"A whole new world!" Isis sings, trying to top Halizeia with hers.

"A dazzling place I never knew!" Halizeia sings. "But when I'm way up here..."

"It's crystal clear," continues Isis melodically.

Together, they sing, "And now I'm in a whole new world..."

The crowd claps and cheers at their sudden duet.

"I will be in a new world with the tributes," Halizeia says.

"What a good point! Come to think of it, do you know what the arena is for this year?"

"No."

"I heard they have four parts split with a mountain in between. I also heard them saying that they hope to have a number of stunt people divisible by four."

"Interesting, but another reason i joined is the lack of volunteers, and i don't want the viewers to criticize this year's games due to the lack of it."

"Oh!"

"But again, I also wanna have some more fun."

"I see. What are your expectations for this year's games?"

"I think it's going to be the same for the most part, but our interactions will surely change some outcomes."

"What do you expect your interaction to be?"

"I guess we'll be acting as mutts in the arena. I mean, there's no clue of our roles on the application form."

"Ah, okay. If you won't be a mutt, what do you think would you be?"

"I think they'd turn me into a goddess of sorts, because four parts right?"

"Yeah."

"Then maybe each of us holds a part of the arena."

"You have a point."

"I just don't know how that mountain would act."

"Where do you think would the cornucopia be?"

"I think it would be on one of the parts, then the tributes would be forced to go in a loop, visiting each and every land we manage."

"Oh okay. How about the mountain, what role could it play."

"I think it will simply be a hideaway place for the smarter ones, but maybe the gamemakers will play their mutts and disasters there."

"Ooh, okay. Can you think of any possible co-stunters who applied for this?"

"I looked it up on the Internet this morning, and I think Titan is joining us too."

"Titan Smith?"

"Yeah, and her mother was shocked with his life on other news."

"Oh, who else do you think is joining?"

"There was a post this morning from Thromanoid himself on his social media site."

"Lucius, Lucius Thromanoid?"

"Yes. I find it odd how I am the only female as of now, and it's also interesting that I'm not an official stunt person myself. I just want to try out this opportunity, and I hope I can make it back home."

"Well, we'll find out who the last stunter is. That is all for tonight, and thank you for coming to..."

"I am always coming, and you thank me just now!?" Halizeia makes a face, and Isis looks at the camera.

The crowd laughs, and so does Isis.

"Yes, haha! It's a really nice way for us to get to know more about you. Up next, we have invited two little kids who have become viral recently in a short video I will show you after the break!"

Once the signal is given, Isis goes to the backstage with Halizeia, and they talk a little bit more.

Isis starts, "It makes me wonder how none of you were told of the arena and what you are supposed to do."

"Do you know something I don't know?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Isis takes out her small tickler and flips through the pages. "I was told that each of you will be meeting with Head Gamemaker Alistair on the night of the parades. You will be assigned your roles, and each of you will manage a section of the arena. They will also need to fit you into costumes, because all of you will be playing a role in the arena. You'll all be like gamemakers working inside the arena."

"Oh that is so cool!"

"Yes, but you will still be instructed on what you must and what you mustn't do."

"Okay. Now I'm excited!"

"Good luck, girl! May the odds be ever in your favor!"

* * *

AN:

Yay for a fast update! I wrote the first 2 parts even before writing the previous chapter, which explains the quickness of this update. I might update again this week, or I'll update on Christmas Day as a Christmas gift. I'm really close to finishing the reapings, and I hope to get them all done by the end of the year. I have an idea on what stuff I'll include after the reapings, and I'm really excited to write those chapters as I have not seen the style in any SYOT yet.

I'll work on District 3 next. I got two submissions per biological sex, and I have higher standards for this district since I don't want to write for someone boring and bloodbath-esque. I might be biased with District 3 due to my computer-related background, but I am looking forward to this opportunity to write for smart tributes, and not for obvious bloodbath tributes. I'd like my bloodbath to be unpredictable in a way. ;)

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I think I'll have an announcement for something regarding the next chunk of the story. :)


	14. D3 Reapings: There's No Place Like Home

AN:

First of all, Merry Christmas! :D

I unintentionally went overboard with this chapter because I had so much fun writing for these two! As we get closer and closer to the end of the reapings, I'm getting more and more excited to write for the fun that awaits us all after the reapings.

I have finalized the tribute list, and you can see it on my profile. Thank you to everyone who submitted, whether your tribute made it in or not. You had given your effort in reading my first SYOT and submitting to it. I appreciate reviews as they motivate me to write more and have the chapters out as soon as I can, so an extra thank you to my consistent reviewers. :)

If you submitted a tribute or two to me, and none of them made it in, I am truly sorry that I could not accept them due to many different circumstances. You may PM me if you wish to find out why I did not accept a certain tribute of yours. If you are no longer interested in the story due to your tribute not making it in, I will respect your decision to leave and not continue this story. However, you still have a chance to get your character in this story of mine. I have a sub-plot planned, and it will involve the stylists of this year's games. These stylists will not just appear during the tribute parade, as part of the sub-plot.

Open to everyone, you may now submit stylists to Cards of Mortality! :D The guidelines are in the form, and the link to this form is: tinyurl dot com slash StylistGames

Without any further ado, I give you the D3 Reapings. I hope you will enjoy this chapter as much as I did. :D

* * *

"Chip, Chip!" Pixel calls.

Chip Tablet blinks as Pixel finally gets his attention. He thinks of something to say, but ends up silent.

Tesla says, "We have been given our next project. Please read it from your screens."

Chip, Byte, Pixel, and Tesla read the specifications for their last project today. They are all enrolled in District 3's programming academy, and they have been working as a team ever since they were enrolled.

"Is everybody done reading?" asks Tesla after giving her groupmates some time.

Everyone waits for Chip to finish, since he is taking his time to analyze each and every word of the project specifications.

"It's okay," Tesla says. "Pixel, you work on the environment."

"Yes Tessie!" the eleven-year-old responds.

"Byte, you're in charge of Royce's ally and one of the careers."

"Which career?" asks the thirteen-year-old with his clear high-pitched voice.

"You pick."

Byte thinks, then says, "I'll work on the boy from Two."

"Great! I'll work on the boy from Four and the whole script then."

"That leaves Chip with…"

"The protagonist, Robert Royce."

Chip finishes reading and starts thinking.

"Chip!" calls Tesla. Chip looks to Tesla's direction after some thought processing. Tesla tells him, "You should work on Royce's A.I."

Chip gives her a nod and continues thinking of the possible algorithm for Robert Royce. They all think and work on the hunger games simulation they have been given. For their group, they are given the 131st games. The 12-year-old victor Robert Royce may have gotten a 1 during his private training session, but he won his games somehow.

Chip, the thirteen-year-old boy, may not be the smartest in the academy, but the instructors admire his hardworking attitude. As he analyzes the artificial intelligence algorithm properly, he thinks carefully if what he is doing is correct or otherwise. He tests it, but it's incorrect, so he debugs his algorithm accordingly. Tesla knew she should give Chip the least amount of work, because he works on his algorithms slowly but surely.

Fast forward on their progress as a team, Pixel shows her 3D world to the rest of the group after so much debugging. Tesla and Byte test their characters' A.I.

"It's working fine," Tesla says. "Let's just polish it."

"Okay," replies Byte.

"Chip? Chip?" Pixel calls.

Chip looks after a while.

"Are you ready?" asks Byte.

Chip shakes his head and continues to work on his part.

Some more time passed, most groups already finished their respective projects for the day. The rest of the groups remaining are already working overtime.

Chip looks up, and he sees every member of his group waiting for him.

"Sent the file?" asks the group leader and oldest among them, Tesla.

Chip nods. They take some time to compile each other's algorithms. They then test the simulation.

The 3D world Pixel constructed with the help of a 3D library shows up on the screen properly. The bloodbath is generated starting with the giant cauldron with hot liquid inside it. The tributes are then generated one by one from the 3D models provided. The tributes all stand on the one-and-a-half-feet-wide platform at the mouth of the cauldron. The "Go!" button appears. Tesla presses it, and the bloodbath starts. Since no artificial intelligence was implemented on the other tributes, they just run around randomly, some even falling into the cauldron.

"It's okay, it's not in the specifications," Tesla says.

Robert Royce encounters the boy from Two. He avoids his attacks as expected.

"Nice!" Byte remarks.

Royce is then seen running away from the bloodbath scene as the boy from Two attempts to chase him with a sword.

'I wish I can use a spear,' the boy from Two says on screen as he stops.

The scene then naturally skips to how Royce and his ally, the girl from Eight, strategize for the feast. His ally sacrifices herself as Royce himself grabs the gifts provided both for him and his now-dead ally. Afterwards, the scene skips to Royce's final battle with the boy from Two. Royce climbs the mountain of a platform as he goes around the twisting red staircase. He reaches the platform inside the black and red castle. The boy from Two dramatically turns around.

'You have come so far and got so far,' the Two boy says. 'But in the end, it doesn't even matter!'

Royce's A.I. plays accordingly with the Two boy's A.I. At one point, Royce hits the career on the nuts, then pushes him off the platform. From there, he falls to his death. The screen fades and the program ends.

"Well done, well done!" remarks the instructor. "Let's test the A.I. elsewhere shall we?"

They replace the volcanic and castle-ful arena with the arena from the 138th games, the one held in an amusement park. The bloodbath starts off with the roller coaster they developed from a previous project. Royce gets stuck on the roller coaster ride from the shock, and the boy from Four attacks him on the head. "Game Over!" appears on screen.

"Well done!" The instructor gives them a score. "Tomorrow, maybe we can work on a more complex games, like the one from the 135th."

"Yes sir!" says Tesla and Pixel in unison. Byte follows, but Chip only nods in silence. He fixes the position of his oversized glasses. "All of you should get some rest, we have a stressful day ahead of us."

"Yes sir!" most of them respond once more. They all head to their dorm together. Most children are left there by their parents, and they don't come back for those children. Such is Byte, Chip, and Tesla's case. It comes to a point wherein they do not even remember what their parents look like.

"My parents are gonna fetch me soon," Pixel says.

"Good for you," Tesla says. "At least you don't have to worry for the reapings."

"But I have to for the following year."

"Well, enjoy life while you can. I wish I have parents as nice as yours."

"Yeah." Pixel looks at a different direction and thinks.

After some time, Pixel's parents fetch her, and the three groupmates are left on their own.

"It's the reapings again," says Tesla gloomily.

Byte says, "It's okay, I'm pretty sure there is a low chance of us being reaped."

"Maybe that's the good thing of us being left here in the academy. We just work for our food, and there's not even a fee for us to be taught these skills."

Chip breaks from his chain of thought and says with his high-pitched and childlike voice, "Is it because we are District Three's industry?"

"Yeah, I think it's one way for District Three to produce the people to work on the technology of the future," Byte says.

They talk some more, but at some point, they all prepare going to bed. When the lights are off, Chip can't seem to sleep right away. He's used to it after all.

 _Do I use breadth-first search or depth-first search?_ He thinks of a simple situation, but now he is stuck in his own world of search algorithms, thinking like an A.I. bot. _If I don't get reaped for the reapings, then I'm okay. If I get reaped for the reapings, who will come and see me? If my friends see me, then we might talk about strategy. If my parents see me, I have not even seen them. Will it be a nice greeting, or are they gonna be mad at me? If I get a nice greeting…_

He continues to think, which is why he has a hard time sleeping every night. He looks at the stars like he usually does every night when he can't sleep. He continues to think of the many possible situations in life, but he can only think of them for as long as they have never happened.

* * *

Tira Hyde wakes up early and stretches a bit as she watches the sun rise. She gets some cookies and milk from the fridge for breakfast. She is lucky to be richer than most people in the district. In fact, Tira herself helps out in making income for the whole family. When she finishes breakfast, she goes back to her room to prepare for work. Someone set an appointment with her before the reapings.

She changes to her electrician's uniform then leaves for work. Coincidentally, she just needs to fix the lights on her best friend's house for today's work. She arrives outside Sirey's house, so she rings the doorbell.

The door is opened by Sirey's mom. "Well good morning, Tira!"

"Good morning, mam!"

"We couldn't understand why the lights aren't working. We bought new LED lights yesterday, and I hope we got the right kind for the lights to work again."

Tira knows Sirey and her mom have been using lamps for the past two nights. She's glad she finally has some time to help them this morning. She tests out the light switch on the kitchen, but it doesn't seem to work at all. She quickly replaces the light, but it still doesn't work.

"Hmmm… maybe the problem is not with the LED light bulbs."

"Where is it then?"

"May I see your fuse box?"

Tira is led to the fusebox hidden on the dining room's wall. She opens it and sees a few broken wires.

"Are there rats here?"

"Yes."

"Aha! Those rats probably nibbled these wires."

"How is that even possible? We didn't find any rat or rat corpse inside the house."

"I don't know what exactly happened, but I can fix this!"

Tira takes out the necessary tools to fix the wires. Her fingers are long, from working with wires since a few years ago until now. At the age of sixteen, she likes this kind of job, fixing wirings. She wishes she can work with something more complex than wires in the near future.

"The lights should work now." Tira closes the fuse box and tests the light switches. She flickers them one by one for testing. Sirey wakes up during this time, and they all find out that the lights in her room doesn't work.

"Should we try the new lights?"

"I think we should," Sirey's mom says.

Tira replaces the lights in Sirey's room. She tests them afterwards, and they work now.

Sirey says, "Thanks Tira!"

They both fistbump, then Tira responds with, "My pleasure! I love doing this."

"Have breakfast with us, please." Sirey's mother smiles, and Tira returns a smile too.

Sirey's mom takes out the brownies from the fridge. She made them just yesterday night.

"Thanks!" says Tira.

"The reapings will start soon," worries Sirey.

"We have time," says Tira. "I still have to go home and change, because I don't want to promote my job at the district town square."

Once they finish their brownies, Sirey goes to her room to change. She wears a simple gray dress.

"You look gorgeous!" Tira says.

"Really?"

"Sirey, don't doubt yourself. You're beautiful just the way you are."

"Oh Tira, your optimism never gets old. We might not even be friends if it wasn't for that."

"Really? I know I was just talking to you as usual one day."

Sirey just smiles, not knowing how else to express her thanks to Tira for making friends with her during middle school. They say goodbye to Sirey's mom, and then they go to Tira's house.

"Good morning, Tira!" Corca greets.

"Good morning, Mom!"

"You brought your friend with you today? Come and eat with us please."

"Um… no thanks. I just ate." Sirey smiles, and Corca smiles as well.

"I just came home to change," Tira says.

"Alright. Tell your father to come down as soon as he can."

"Alright Mom."

Tira goes to her parents' room and wakes her dad up.

"Good morning, Tira!" Faro greets as he get up from his bed.

"Good morning, Dad! Mom is looking for you."

"Alright. I'll go to the dining room now."

Tira goes to her room while her dad heads to the dining area. She changes from her electrician's uniform to her black knee-length dress. The sixteen-year-old looks at her body using the mirror. She is short and skinny for a sixteen-year-old, not yet hitting puberty despite her age. She is not really too concerned of her appearance. What matters to her most is the true character of a person. Sirey was lonely and depressed, and she thinks she did a good job socializing with her when she sat beside Sirey during middle school.

She gets out of her room and hears her parents talking about the current events from the Capitol.

"I heard from the radio that Titan Smith would be joining him too!" Corca says.

Faro replies, "I know there are four of them, but who knows what they will be doing."

"I can check the interviews online. I know each of them has at least one."

"These Capitolites are really nice to let us have some internet connection."

"More like we're steps ahead of them with network technology," Tira adds.

Corca turns around to see her daughter. "Oh you look gorgeous dear!"

"Although you're nice and sweet with that outfit, you don't really have to dress up like that," Faro says. "How could you even be reaped?"

"Maybe it's not possible, maybe it is," Tira says.

"I think with us being in good terms with the Capitol, they would likely rig the reaping bowls with the criminals' and their relatives' names."

Tira shrugs. "We'll never know."

"Bye Tira!" Corca says.

"May the odds be ever in your favor!" adds Faro.

"See you later!" says Tira as she exchanges hugs with both her parents. Tira wakes up the sleepy Sirey who's been sleeping on the sofa for a good number of minutes. They slowly make their way to the square.

"It's starting!" says Sirey as she looks at her watch. Tira checks hers too, and realizes that they were too relaxed to notice that the reapings have already started. They register then insert themselves into the sixteen-year-old section. They have not missed much since the escort was still mic-testing.

"HO HO HO!" The escort covers her mouth and signals the sound guy to lower the volume. She is dressed in red, and is overly puffy for an escort. She is basically wearing a costume of Santa Claus, her favorite character from one of her bedtime stories in the past. Her face is extremely white from the overapplication of powder. She also has a lot of cotton around her face. It's probably a very messed up beardwork. Other than those, she looks like a female Santa Claus. Even the size is accurate, but she has pillows inside her red santa coat. The boots look big for her, and she is struggling with them.

"Ho ho ho!" says the escort. "Welcome to the reapings of the 140th Hunger Games, District Three!"

A few soft reactions come from the crowd.

"Today, I am dressed up as one of my favorite bedtime story characters. Ho ho ho!"

The small amount of reactions are still mixed. Some are familiar with Santa Claus, some do not know him at all.

"Anyway, my name is Cate Clause, and I'm a substitute escort just for this year. Ho ho ho! My real name is Predicate, and I have a sister named Subject, or Jeck. My parents are crazy for grammar. Ho ho ho!"

Mixed reactions come from the crowd with that kind of naming, but most of the people there remain silent.

"Anyway, you better watch out, you better not cry, you better not pout, I'm telling you why."

"Because Santa Claus is coming to town!" shouts a random citizen.

"Ho ho ho!"

Some people can relate, the others can't.

"So who is naughty and who is nice? Shall we find out? Ho ho ho!"

Because she is a substitute, the people in charge of escorts forgot to give her the video that is usually shown on reaping day, but that's not even important as not all escorts show the video to the districts they are handling.

Cate struggles wobbling to one of the bowls. She picks a slip from the bowl and reads the name, "Our naughty boy this year is… Chip Tablet! Ho ho ho!"

No one budges, and no sound is made as a reaction.

"Chip, please come to the stage and tell me why you're naughty. Ho ho ho!"

The peacekeepers proceed to the thirteen-year-old section, where a short, skinny, underweight, and pale-skinned boy with oversized eyeglasses is staring at a direction, thinking of something too deep. As the peacekeepers drag him out, he realizes that he has been reaped.

 _Oh no, I'm the unlucky child this year! Should I cry? Should I not? If I cry, I will look weak on national television. If I don't, I will look stronger and braver than most of the other tributes. Maybe, if I don't cry, maybe I have a higher chance for sponsors. Maybe I should braven up too! If I braven up, I will look tough. If I look tough, I will look strong. If I look strong, I can get sponsors. That's it!_

He makes a brave face as the peacekeepers drag him onstage. He probably just looks like he's trying to be cute with his size and face, unfortunately for him.

As the boy with messy brown hair stands onstage trying to look fierce, his face eventually fades back into something expressionless. His eyeglasses are really too big for his tiny nose, and the bridge that connects the left lens from the right is taped. He pushes his glasses up, fixing its position. His brown eyes stare into infinity as he thinks of possible algorithms he could apply into the hunger games.

On the other side of the stage, Cate finally grabs a slip of paper from the top of the pile.

"Our naughty girl this year is… _Tee_ -ra? _Tai_ -ra? … Hyde. Ho ho ho!"

The sixteen-year-old girl walks to the stage by herself, shocked from the result of this year's reapings. One side of her brain thinks she is going to fight, but not necessarily die, in the hunger games. The other side thinks how stupid the escort is in pronouncing her name. _Idiot. Whatever!_

The girl with an average-length black hair makes her way up to the stage. She looks at her district partner with her dark brown eyes, wanting to pity him yet communicate with him at the same time. Unfortunately for her, Chip is still traversing around his own algorithmic world.

"District Three, your tributes for this year's hunger games. Ho ho ho!"

Cate makes both of them shake hands. Tira is using her friendly eyes in an attempt to befriend Chip through non-verbal communication. She has a smile ready, but Chip still has a poker face. She smiles anyway, even though Chip is unresponsive as expected.

"I wish you will all have a very merry Christmas someday! Ho ho ho ho!" The escort then wobbles to her sleigh, but the mentor tells her she has to take the train back to the Capitol.

"But what about my reindeer!" Cate reasons.

"I think they'll fit inside the train," Renz says.

Cate thinks, but eventually responds with, "Ho ho ho!"

"You make me sick," Renz says in annoyance.

* * *

Chip is still on his academy uniform, since he doesn't really have any special clothing with him at the dorm. It's a white polo shirt with the symbol of District Three somewhere on the upper left portion of the shirt. He wears that along with his black slacks and black leather shoes, and he even has his identification card on a lanyard worn around his neck until now. He still stares at a certain direction. He sees his groupmates and only friends come inside the room altogether.

Pixel gives Chip a hug, then she say, "I know you will do well out there, Chip!"

It takes him some processing before he nods in response.

Tesla says, "You know how to work around different situations in the games. We've been working on many different projects about them. We know you can do it."

He processes what she just said, then nods late in response once more.

Byte tells Chip, "Do we have to test your knowledge about the different situations?"

After some processing time, he shakes his head.

"Wait a sec," says Pixel. "Can you take off your glasses?"

Chip takes off his big but broken eyeglasses. Tesla and Pixel realize the same thing.

"Are you two twins?" asks Tesla curiously.

"Uh…" Byte says.

Chip looks at Byte, but he tries to imagine his own face too. He thinks if they do look alike or not. Byte scratches his head as he thinks of the same thing. They do not have any mirrors in the room unfortunately.

"You two look alike, very much alike!" says Pixel.

Since Byte and Chip are not usually beside each other, nobody ever noticed their similar facial features.

"What are your last names?" Tesla asks.

"Tablet?" says Byte in an unsure tone, even though he is sure with his answer.

"Tablet," Chip says softly after a while. "Tablet!"

The two look at each other.

"Well, I didn't know I have a twin," Byte reacts.

They now wonder altogether why they noticed this just now. Pixel starts a new topic about her life, about what it's like to live with her parents, something her other three friends do not experience. They chat for the time being, until the peacekeeper from the outside knocks on the door signaling it's almost time.

"We better get going," Tesla says. "We wish you the best of luck, Chip!"

Pixel gives Chip one last warm hug. "We will all miss you. Please do really well out there. We know you can do it."

"We're rooting for you to come back home, brother." Byte smiles after saying it. They all wait for Chip to process his thoughts, then he waves them goodbye and smiles at them too. The peacekeeper opens the door, and the three of Chip's friends leave the room immediately before they are unwantedly dragged out of the room. The peacekeeper closes the door and leaves Chip alone in there.

He looks at the bracelet on his ID lace. There's a little computer chip in there. The whole thing is given to him by one of the instructors on his first year in the academy. He has been programming for long periods of time, and he would forget his name back then, so the chip in the bracelet served as a reminder of his name. Now, it serves as a reminder of his home, his passion, and his profession. He wants to come back home, and this will let him remember that he has a life in the place that built him up as a hardworking programmer that he is today.

* * *

Tira waits in the room with a face mixed of shock and disbelief. Her parents enter first, with her mother approaching her for a big and caring hug.

"Tira dear, you will make it back home to us. You can do it! You have enough skills to win this."

"I won't let you down, Mom, Dad." Tira says in a brave tone. Her dad comes closer to listen to what she has to say. "I will fight until the very end, because I believe success is given to those who work hard for it, not just to those who are lucky or talented."

"I'm so proud of my girl!" says Faro with a hint of cheeriness. Both of Tira's parents are disappointed with the fact that she was reaped even though nobody from her family was a rebel, ever! Everyone in the family was either neutral to the Capitol or pro-Capitol. The Capitol may not be evil these days, but the Snows ruled with an iron fist back in the day, yet her elderly family members idolized the Capitol during those days.

"I know you will stay strong!" Corca stands up. "Do your best, Tira."

"I will!" Tira stands up as well.

Faro follows too. "Don't let these games intimidate you. Your determination is the key."

"Yes, the key to winning the hunger games this year!" Tira feels like her eyes are blazing with determination, because inside her she is burning with passionate determination and optimism. She knows she can succeed with the right mindset, and she thinks hard work, perseverance, and determination will help her with this. Her optimism is the main driver to this mindset though.

They chat a little bit more, before Tira exchanges her last hugs with her parents. Some of her friends come to visit her too. Some share their sympathies with her, others cheer her on. Last but not the least, Sirey comes to visit her.

"Tira." Sirey says it so softly as she starts sobbing, eventually breaking down on the floor.

"Sirey, it's okay."

"No it's not." Sirey still has her head down.

"Why is it?"

"I-I-I… have… I have no one else to be with when you're gone."

As understanding as Tira is, she knows how Sirey will feel when she'll be gone for the next few weeks, or forever. She rubs Sirey's back and thinks of a way to cheer her up.

Sirey adds, "I can't find a great friend like you when you die out there."

"Don't say negative things, Sirey." Tira adds with optimism. "We still do not know what my fate will be. You'll never know. I might still come back." She tries to smile to Sirey, but her head is still down. "Come on, don't make an ocean of tears here. We're gonna drown."

Sirey looks up and smiles slightly from her tearful face. Tira smiles brighter than the sun in return.

"I won't let you down, bestie. Please do me a favor by being brave to the world out there." Tira smiles brightly once more.

"Thank you, bestie." Sirey gives Tira one really tight yet warm hug. Tira returns this while rubbing Sirey's back to comfort her.

"Hey, I still have the pencil you lent, then gave, me four years ago."

"Oh nice!" says Sirey.

Tira takes it out from her pocket. She is ready to use it anytime, but she didn't expect that she'd be bringing this with her to the games.

"Keep it safe with you, Tira."

"It's a part of you that has always been with me." Tira smiles. She drips a few tears of joy, then the two exchange hugs once more.

"Don't let the games change you, Tira."

"I'll try not to. I'll just do my best to come home, especially for you. You're my best friend, my most special friend."

They exchange smiles tearily. They hug one last time as they hear the peacekeeper knock.

"Farewell, Tira. I know you will do well."

"I will always look at the bright side, and I will wait for you to cross that line and come with me to the bright side someday."

Sirey smiles to Tira one last time as the door opens. Tira returns it before Sirey leaves the room. When Tira is left alone, she thinks what else she can do. The first step is to catch the attention of her district partner. She thinks they can be a good team. It may not work, but she can try. She knows she can win, because everybody has a chance to it. The title of victor no longer goes to the trained tributes all the time. They are split between the young ones, the smart ones, the lucky ones, the trained ones, and more. She doesn't look into the fact that she could be dying in a week or so. She thinks it's time for her to have an adventure of a lifetime, an opportunity like no other.

 _I'm ready for the obstacles to be thrown to me._ She smiles with this thought in mind.

* * *

Hope y'all enjoyed my Christmas gift this year! :D

P.S. The clock struck 12 when I was writing about the reaping scene. Ho ho ho! XD


	15. D8 Reapings: Heartwarming Helping Hands

Lainey Sash enters a dress shop at noontime.

"Lainey!" says Shop Owner Isabel. "Looking for your mom?"

"Yes mam."

Her mom comes out not long after. It's the shop's lunch break, but Lainey brings her parents food once a week, the one day each week when she cooks for the family.

Lainey tells her mom, "I'm thinking of giving Mam Isabel a waffle today. I made extra, but I think I made too much."

"Okay." Kathy says it with a smile, feeling proud of what values she taught her daughter.

Even though it is the shop's break time, a customer comes in, looking frazzled.

"Sorry I'm late. May I pick up my daughter's dress?"

"Sure! Let me look for it first." Isabel goes somewhere deep inside her shop to look for the dress that has just been made.

"Hello!" greets Lainey.

"Hi," replies the lady, still trying to rest for a bit. "Why do you seem so familiar?"

"Your…" Lainey pauses a bit, hesitating from the sad fact that… "Your daughter volunteered for me."

"Oh, it was you!" says the lady, fixing her glasses. "You look just as sweet as you are six years ago." Lainey smiles. The lady continues, "I can't blame Paige for what she has done. She really has a mind of her own sometimes." Lainey nods and remembers the events from six years ago.

 _~Flashback Start~_

The escort announced with his narrator-esque voice, "District Eight, Ms. Lainey Sash will be your representative. Mwahahahaha!"

As a twelve-year-old, Lainey was extremely frightened that time. She shivered slowly to the stage, then the peacekeepers helped her walk to the stage much faster. She was shaking on the stage, holding back as much tears as she can.

"Up next…"

"I volunteer!" said a girl from the eighteen-year-old section.

The peacekeeper pushed Lainey, signaling her that she can go back to her section. She mouthed 'thank you' with silent tears to the girl who had just volunteered for her. The girl nodded back with a smile in return.

 _~Flashback End~_

"I miss Paige," the lady says, wiping her sweat and tears with her handkerchief. "She was a good girl. She was one of a kind any parent would ask for." She wipes her tears calmly. Before any of them can say more about this unfortunate event in the past, Isabel comes back with the dress.

"We had it washed just yesterday." Isabel happily hands the dress to the lady.

"Thank you!" The lady then faces Lainey. "May the Lord bless you, child."

Lainey smiles and waves goodbye. She does not understand what the lady meant by the Lord, as most Panemians are not religious after what the Snow dynasty has done to religion. There's still a good percentage of Panemians who have faith in their gods. Some believe in gods while some others are just told of it like a tale that existed once upon a time.

Lainey realizes she has been staying too long at her mom's workplace.

"Mom, I'm going to see Dad now."

"Alright sweetie, take care!"

Before she leaves, she gives Isabel the heart-shaped waffle she was talking about.

"Oh! For me?"

"Yes mam."

"Why thank you!"

"It's made with love."

"How nice. I wish my stepchildren love me too." She smiles.

Lainey smiles too, as she waves goodbye to her mom and to her mom's boss. She quickly makes her way to her dad's workplace to deliver his food. It takes her about half an hour to reach the silk factory.

"Looking for your dad?" asks the factory manager.

"Yes sir."

"I'll call him."

Lainey waits for her dad patiently. She thinks of the reapings. It will be her last tomorrow. She is prepared for the games now, in case she will be reaped. She has used kitchen knives for cooking and for training. She has even built a 'spear' by herself. If she gets reaped tomorrow, she is prepared to come back alive.

"Lainey!" Monty says.

"Dad, I made lunch for you."

"Let's go to the dining area."

They go to the said place, where two parents and their son are also having their lunch.

The dad says, "It's okay, son. We can handle it."

"No no no. I'm doing this to help you."

"What about school?" asks the mom.

"We don't have class this afternoon."

"You're sure eh, son?" asks the dad.

The conversation fades away as the dad and the son go to the washroom.

"My son wants to help us, but I told him to get some rest."

"It's okay, Tef. At least your son wants to help you."

"Yeah, but…" She sighs thinking of something reasonable, but she can't. "I don't know. The boss pays Ingeo a bit of money for helping out."

"Consider it a blessing, Tef."

Silence fills the area as she smiles. Her son and husband comes back to pack away their lunchboxes.

"Until four only, son."

"I know, dad. Don't you worry."

As they leave the area, Monty looks at Lainey.

"Tomorrow is your last reaping, babe."

"I know, dad! What are the chances they would reap my name for the second time?"

"Small I guess."

They both smile at that thought, then they have a little more chitchat as her dad eats his lunch.

"I'll get going now, dad. Be sure to eat your waffles."

"Yes I will. I won't forget it unlike last time."

They wave goodbye to each other, then Lainey heads home to do some chores. Several hours later, she cooks dinner for the family. As she finishes, she looks at the knife she used to slice the tomatoes. _Should I still practice?_

She thinks about the chances that she'll be reaped into the games. Maybe she can do something else than practice, but maybe not as well. She takes the kitchen knife she just used and she takes the other unused kitchen knives too. She prepares her target pillows around the living room. She aims for all those targets and hits them where she expects them to, nine out of ten times. She doesn't have proper training, but she thinks this is enough for her.

She cleans up her mess a few seconds later. She goes to the kitchen to wash the knives she used, then she returns to the living room to rest. She thinks of the time she was watching TV of Paige's interview.

" _I volunteered for little Lainey because I think it is the better thing to do. I see dreams broken in her eyes. I see her future ruined by the hunger games."_

She blinks the tears away from that thought. She remembers that statement had mixed reactions from the Capitolite audience. Lainey was really hoping for Paige to come home and win, but she can't forget her death, like it was just a week ago.

Paige Sylvianna made it to the top ten in her year. The arena was a train complex, and she had no big problems until the zombie mutts were distributed across different trains. In the end, she was able to escape the mutts, but she failed to escape her death from the train fire she could have avoided in some way.

 _"Carmella, what is that?" Paige asked her ally._

 _The girl from Eleven took a careful look in front to later on realize, "Sylvia, it's fire!"_

It was very early in the morning, and the lack of sleep made them both not notice the fire earlier. They tried to stop the train from going through the fire, but they failed to do so. They were trapped there for hours as the outside of the train was on fire, and the train was still running! It exploded around dawn, then their cannons fired.

Lainey wipes away tears from those thoughts. She was traumatized after her first reaping. Secretly training in her house boosted her confidence year by year, but she is still nervous for the reapings, even for tomorrow.

 _It will be my last reaping. I know I will do fine._

* * *

Ingeo Olefin wakes up early on reaping day. He considers himself more of a book person, so he takes out his favorite encyclopedia from underneath his bed. He likes to think that he is like a sponge absorbing liquid, using the collected information on a later time when necessary.

He opens the book at a random page, and that page discusses gravity and zero-gravity. He flips through a few pages and ends up dipping himself into the realm of the unknown, of what's up there in the sky. He reads up about the existence of different neighboring planets, but the book does not include anything else much deeper than those planets.

One book does not satisfy Ingeo, so he takes out another book. This time, it's about some tips for the hunger games. The book discusses about stuff like traps, setting fire, a bit of combat, and some facts about past tributes' biggest victories and mistakes. Ingeo reads a few facts softly.

"Did you know: The fifth quarter quell had half of the total number of tributes who volunteered." "Did you know: The arena of the 133rd hunger games demanded the most amount of mental abilities from tributes." "Did you know: There was a head gamemaker who likes to make arenas based on the worlds from past millennia."

"Ingeo, wake up!" Her mother calls from outside. "It's reaping day."

Ingeo closes the book and prepares for the day. He goes to the kitchen to help prepare breakfast.

Tef says, "It's okay, Ingeo. I can handle it."

"No Mom, we can get things done faster if I help you."

Ingeo places the plates on the dining table. He helps his mom with making the toasts, but it doesn't really require a lot of effort. Still, Ingeo shows his mom that he wants to help her with breakfast.

Nothing much happens during breakfast. Ingeo thinks his life is boring, and his parents or brother don't even have anything to talk about.

Helmut says, "It's my turn to wash the dishes."

"No Dad, I can do it."

"It's okay, son. I can handle my turn unlike last time."

"No, it's okay. You always wash for dinner."

Ingeo's dad doesn't argue with him, but he helps Ingeo with placing the plates on the cupboard. When Ingeo is done showing his helping effort to his parents, he goes to his room to change for the reapings.

He selects something presentable from his closet. He wears his black trousers and his plain white dress shirt, both handed down from his older brother. He prefers to be simple on the outside, usually wearing a gray shirt and cargo trousers on a normal day in the district.

"Going soon?" asks Tef.

"Yes Mom."

"We'll follow you soon when we get prepared," says Helmut.

Ingeo and his older brother Lyocell leave the house saying goodbye to their parents. Lyocell meets up with his friends right away as they exit the house. Ingeo follows them, but eventually meets his best friend too along the way. They are neighbors, but Lux seems to be slower in preparing, yet he catches up with Ingeo.

Lux calls, "Ingeo!"

Ingeo turns around to see Lux Velour. The two talk on the way to the plaza.

"The other day, they thought Bryce did it, so I didn't get caught," Lux tells Ingeo. One thing Ingeo doesn't like about Lux is the latter's mischief. It has gotten them both in trouble in school. For Ingeo, he was involved with Lux's pranks twice, but Lux is already a loyal customer to the principal's office.

"So… how's your math homework?" Ingeo asks, shifting the conversation after some seconds of silent walking.

"I let my sister do it, as usual."

"How does she learn to do your math homework? I'm curious."

"She reads the notes that you gave me. If there are none, then she looks for books by herself."

Ingeo admires Lux's sister's independence and intelligence, but he figures out how dependent Lux is in many things. Ingeo would compare himself to Lux's sister, curious and independent. He thinks Lux is a good friend since they've been playing games together since they were in grade school. They have been inseparable according to their peers.

They reach the plaza, then they register into the area where the eligible kids wait for the reapings to start. Since they are early, they get to talk some more. Soon, the odd male escort of District Eight appears onstage.

"Welcome ladies and gentlemen!" says the escort aloud with his narrator-esque voice. He is white on every visible skin, and his eyes seem to have an eerie shade of red in them. His lips are blood red, and he smiles to reveal his viciously sharp but fake teeth to the crowd. "My name is Viktorio Antonio Mario Polyhaima, also known as Count Vamp. Mwahahahaha!" He is wearing dark red slacks and a majestic violet cape. He has a black dress shirt underneath his blood red vest. His hair is messy like a scientist's or a classical musician's, but it looks like it was dipped in blood and then sprinkled with stardust. He has red leather shoes and a red bowtie too. He holds a staff that has a ruby on top on his left hand. He then moves his right arm to make his cape have a flying effect for a few seconds. "I'm honored to be escorting for this district for the sixteenth time, because my clothes mostly come from here, yes? Very well then!"

He plays the video to show everyone about what happened during the Dark Days and the first one hundred hunger games.

"To the program proper!" Vamp says as the video ends. Let's start with the gentlemen this time. He slowly walks to the male reaping bowl while letting his cape sway up from time to time. He carefully picks up a slip from the middle of the bowl, and reads the name aloud, "District Eight, we have… Ingeo Olefin! Mwahahahaha! What an unfamiliar name."

The pale boy from the fifteen-year-old section is shocked as his name is called. None of his family members were ever part of the hunger games, so his reaction of shock turns into sadness. Tears slowly trickle down his face as the peacekeepers pull out the boy with short brown hair and light brown eyes. He has the usual height of a fourteen-year-old, but he has a thin and skinny body type that makes him look like a bloodbath to his district. He is easily underestimated anytime, anywhere. He's been making inaudible crying sounds ever since the peacekeepers drag him onstage, but he strengthens up gradually as he sees his worried parents, because they are the last people he would want to disappoint.

"Up next," the escort continues. "We have… Sandra Roastbelt. Mwahahahaha! Another unfamiliar name, eh?"

A twelve-year-old walks to the stage shakily. She wants to cry, but she looks more traumatized to even think about crying.

"I volunteer!" reacts a girl wearing a bright blue knee-length dress from the eighteen-year-old section. There are people who react in a shocked manner, but the district also had a volunteer earlier in the decade.

This fair-skinned girl with shoulder-length brown hair tied in a French braid bravely makes her way onstage, albeit shaking as she is walking. The crowd looks at her differently compared to how they looked at Ingeo, for she has an athletic build and a generally sweet impression. Her brown eyes look into the crowd nervously, and the escort asks her as she expects him to.

Vamp asks, "What is this female volunteer's name?"

"L-L-Lainey Sash."

"And why did you volunteer?"

"B-Bec-Because, I think it is the right thing to do."

"Hold on a moment, aren't you the girl I picked from this bowl during the 134th?"

"Yes, yes I am." She says it with some shaky nodding.

"Well, well, well! You look… much more fantastic than you were as a frightened twelve-year-old. Mwahaha! You must've prepared eh?"

"Yes, yes I did."

Vamp did not expect that answer to his joking question. "Wow! Time quickly changes a little and innocent child's figure into what seems to be… our next victor. What do you think?"

Lainey doesn't know what to say, but she still tries to get something decent out of her mouth. "I can always try. I have prepared myself this time."

"Well, a second chance came for this lucky young lady. Let us give her a round of applause! Mwahaha!"

A few people give her a round of applause, but she can see some sincere faces who have faith in her. There are others who think she will be an ordinary girl who won't last quite long in the games, so she can be overestimated or underestimated by the people in her district.

"District Eight, our tributes for the 140th annual hunger games, Ingeo Olefin and Lainey Sash!" The escort announces it while he is raising a hand from each of them. He then tells them to shake hands before they are led to their rooms to say goodbye to their loved ones.

* * *

Lainey nervously waits for her parents to see her. She tries to imagine the scenario if it happened six years ago. She knows she'll be crying, eventually dying. This time, she isn't as nervous as she would've been six years ago, because she thinks she has a chance.

Her parents come in with devastated faces.

"Lainey, we believe in you," says her dad.

"We're so proud with how we raised you, but it didn't have to come this way, right?" adds her mom.

"I just think… I just think I'm doing the right thing."

"Oh Lainey." Her mom says it tearily. She runs her hand in the blue dress they both made together within the week. "Paige was a really nice girl coming to my dress shop when it still existed, but I can't blame you for following her footsteps."

Lainey remains silent, thinking that she did the right thing, but she is making a big sacrifice, one of her biggest risks in life.

"Lainey," her father says. "Your mother and I believe you can win. You may not have trained like the careers, but you have prepared yourself with handling a few weapons at least." He wipes a tear with his finger. "We wish you the best of luck, babe."

Lainey gives her father an emotional and tight hug. She then moves to her mom to do the same. They talk for some more until it's five minutes before the time is up.

"You have grown so much, Lainey. We believe in you."

"Yes Mom. I'll still try to come home."

"Make us proud, babe. You have the potential to be the district's next victor."

"I don't know, Dad. I'll still try."

She gives her parents one last hug each before they leave. She does not want to overestimate herself, but she knows she has a chance in winning. She still doesn't know who her competition will be, so it is definitely a big risk. She later on realizes that she is not only winning for the little twelve-year-old or for the district. She is also gonna win for Paige, who unluckily went down through the fire. Being reaped at the age of twelve changed the once-traumatized Lainey. She is now a hero to a stranger, like how Paige was to her. She still wonders if she will die or survive in this fight after volunteering for the little twelve-year-old.

A knock is heard from the door, but it's not the peacekeeper. Little Sandra gives Lainey a hug and a soft but sincere "Thank you." She leaves immediately, still traumatized from the shocking turn of events.

 _I can't disappoint this girl. I can't follow Paige's footsteps exactly. I have to try coming home, and I know I can do it. I can do this!_

* * *

Ingeo is still in tears as he waits for his family's arrival. His father and mother come in first to see him.

"Ingeo!" Her mother says it really loudly, then she hugs Ingeo tightly as if she does not want to let go. "Please come back! PLEASE!"

Ingeo crying at the same time does not help any of them in the situation. His father starts tearing up as well, saying, "Son, I am with your mother. Please, please, PLEASE COME BACK HOME!"

As the three of them are wailing aloud, they think about how much time they have left with each other together. Ingeo barely sees his parents on regular days, since they work hard for long hours in the factory. He tries to help them at work sometimes just like yesterday, but it's still as fruitless as he thinks. Meanwhile, Ingeo's older brother comes in late and is awkwardly waiting for the rest of his family to finish.

"We should've made more time for you!" regrets his dad.

"It's alright." Ingeo says it sincerely, but his parents don't really think it's alright to use up most of their time on work than to their children.

"We didn't know it would be you this year!" says his mom. "PLEASE COME BACK!"

They just continue crying. Ingeo himself can not stay positive by saying he will try. In fact, it is a rare occasion for him to stay positive. Big Brother Lyocell just waits for his turn at the corner, which comes pretty soon.

"Ingeo," Lyocell starts softly. "I have to confess that I've been very jealous of the attention Mother and Father has given you." He looks down, then back to the Ingeo who's trying to calm himself down slowly. "I thought that wishing you to be part of the games would be fine, but I'll just lose a piece of my family. I shouldn't be like this." He shakes his head in regret. "Here, this is for you."

Lyocell gives Ingeo a Capitol coin drilled in the middle then turned into a necklace.

"I was gonna give it to you on your eighteenth birthday, but that day may never come with you still with us."

Ingeo is back to his crying self.

"I'm sorry." Lyocell goes to the corner to wait for their parents, who hug Ingeo one last time each. Ingeo's family leaves, and his best friend comes in not long after.

Lux says, "This isn't right."

Ingeo is still crying, but he says, "I am of reaping age after all. It's fine."

"No it's not! You can't be like this in the games. You have to make friends, you have to think you can win this."

"No I can't."

"Ingeo, no! You are going to come back, and I believe you can do it."

"I can't. I'm scared."

"But you want to know what's out there, right?"

Ingeo nods.

"Then you better come back and tell us a story." Lux smiles after this.

"But I know I can't."

"Oh please!" Lux has somehow given up being optimistic for Ingeo. "Anyway, I came here to tell you that I'm sorry. I'm sorry for getting you into trouble when you didn't want to be involved. I'm sorry for the other things I have done that hurt you."

"I never wanted trouble."

"I know."

They both stare at each other in silence. Lux's dark blue eyes is still looking on the bright side for Ingeo, but Ingeo's teary light brown but hazel-esque eyes look like they are staying on the dark side.

"Please come home. I know you can do it." Lux feels like he's lying to himself at this point, since he knows Ingeo can't win without any positivity coming from Ingeo himself. "Anyway, I'll get going. I'll see you on TV, buddy!"

Lux leaves Ingeo alone. Ingeo knows there's more to learn about the world, but he thinks he doesn't have the time to know everything. How will he win the hunger games? He doesn't know. He doesn't think he will. He's gonna try, but he knows he's not gonna make it far. He looks down at his sticky hands. He's been wiping his tears for several minutes now.

 _I guess I can make some friends to help me before the games will start. I can always try even if it may not work, like how I try to help Mom and Dad but we're still not earning much as a family._

* * *

AN:

First off, please submit stylists if you can. I only have 4 so far. I can fill up spots if necessary, but you can take this opportunity to get another character into my story. Submitting a stylist is worth 15 points by the way, so submit now! :D

I failed to achieve the goal of finishing my story before 2016 ends, but I'm almost done with the reapings, as I just need to write for D11 and D4. I'm still behind in a ton of updates from other stories, but I'll catch up eventually. I might put this story on a short hiatus after I finish the reapings, in order for me to catch up with the other updates. XP At the same time, I'm gonna play Pokémon Moon soon! :D Nevertheless, I'll try to write as much as I can since I now have a handy tablet that will make writing way easier when I'm not using the laptop. Typing a chapter on the phone is difficult, and you'll know it if you've tried it.

One of my wishes for 2017 is to finish this story before the year ends. XD I hope I don't have to take this to 2018, and I hope y'all enjoyed this chapter.

Have a Happy 2017, everyone! :D


	16. D11 Reapings: How Sweet Can It Be?

Owen Lee Bai reads a story to Layle Adriano on the latter's backyard. The latter is blind, so Owen reads it for his best friend.

"I'm getting hungry," says Layle.

Owen looks up to the bright sky. "Me too. It's almost noontime after all."

Owen guides Layle back inside his house. Layle is lucky to have a family that is well off. In fact, his mother doesn't even have to work. She just takes care of her only child.

"Lunch is ready! How is my sweet and handsome boy?"

"Mom, I'm not a boy anymore."

"Fine, how is my sweet and handsome man?"

There is a bit of silence, then Owen says, "He likes the story I was reading to him."

"Yeah, it's getting very interesting," Layle adds.

"That's nice." Layle's mom keeps the conversation going, and Owen seems to have convinced her into something.

"It's fine, Owen. I'll give you some food for you to bring home."

"Oh no it's okay," Owen says but means otherwise.

Once he was given enough food to bring home, he puts his plan to action.

"Thank you, Ms. Adriano. You didn't really have to."

"No, it's okay!" She says before giving off a chickle.

"I think my sister is looking for me now. We can continue the story tomorrow."

"That's okay," Layle says. "See ya!"

"See ya!" says Ms. Adriano.

"I'll be back tomorrow." Owen leaves the house satisfied. He has mastered the art of manipulation after all.

After some time, he reaches his house, with his sister sweeping the floor.

Nia says, "Owen, how did you get so much food again!?"

"Oh you know, just a nice conversation at the Adrianos'."

Nia thinks this is not right, but what can she do?

"Owen, I appreciate that we aren't as hungry as we were thanks to the food you bring, but I don't think this is the right way to get food."

"You didn't see everything, Nia."

"Oh come on. You don't just get food from having nice conversations here and there."

"Well, then what is this?" Owen puts the food down on their dining table.

"Owen, I don't want you to get in trouble. I don't want to lose you too just because you stole from…"

"I did not steal this food! It was given to me."

Nia sighs, then says, "Are you sure?"

"I am absolutely certain! What is wrong with you!?"

"What is wrong with you!? Are you even sane?"

"Oh, now you're questioning my sanity!?"

"…"

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm fine, Nia! I'm fine!"

Nia tries to say something else, but Owen puts some distance away from his sister. He is stressed from his sister, but he is used to this anyway. He goes to the bed and takes a nap.

 _~Flashback Start~_

"Owen, Owen!"

He looked at his twin brother. "Yeah?"

Quinn pointed at the ribbon hanging outside someone's window. They nodded to each other and took it. They ran around with it, then hid somewhere. They patiently waited for people to trip over the ribbon. At one point, they were almost caught, but they were good runners.

They got home to see fire on the field. Nia was on one side of the farm, weeping.

"What happened?" Quinn asked.

"Mom, Dad." She stammered, then buried her face with her hands. "They… they were testing out… the… the new machine that could… could make harvesting easier." She wiped off tears.

When the fire was out, all the three siblings could see were unrecognizable corpses. They were amputated in the process, so it was really unrecognizable.

 _~Flashback End~_

Owen wakes up scared. He shakes off the thought from his mind, but he does miss his twin brother and parents.

"Oh, you're awake. The tessera just came."

"What tessera? I stopped applying for them since four months ago."

"Well, the Capitol never changes some of their ways."

Owen thinks and realizes that the Capitol is still no good with tesserae delivery. "Okay."

"Dinner is ready." Nia then leaves him alone.

Owen thinks of the times he and his brother were still two peas in a pod, inseparable until the end of time. In his heart and mind, he truly misses him. He doesn't want to think of him, yet he does.

 _~Flashback Start~_

Nia quickly pulled Owen's arm as they ran to the town square. By the time they got there, they saw Quinn being tied to a post, with a gun on his head. The peacekeeper pulled the trigger, and Quinn looked at his family one last time.

"NOOOOO!" Owen shouted, attempting to tackle the peacekeeper.

The peacekeeper was able to grab and control him.

"We were supposed to whip him, but he stole from people way too many times already." He then cackles evilly.

 _~Flashback End~_

Owen wipes a tear off quickly, hoping his sister doesn't see it. He doesn't want to think of his brother anymore. He wants to forget his existence, even his parents'. This is what he has now. This is where he is now.

 _I'm happy with who I am right now, hehehe._

* * *

"Wake up, Poppy," Taylor Sennett tells his sister.

Poppy opens her eyes slowly.

"It's reaping day. We don't want to be late."

Poppy stretches and tells him, "Okay, okay."

"Breakfast is ready as always."

Poppy's brother leaves the room. Poppy is grateful to have a big brother like Taylor, but she is annoyed with it too sometimes.

Poppy thinks, _I can do some things by myself._

She sits up on the bed, and then stands not long after. She goes to the bathroom to do whatever she has to do, then go to the dining area. She lives in a fairly small house.

"Good morning, princess!" greets Gabriel.

"Good morning, Dad! Is Mom in the garden?"

"Yes, princess."

Poppy skips to the garden to greet her mom, "Good morning, Mom!"

"Good morning, sweetie! Have you eaten breakfast?"

"Not yet, I'm waiting for you."

"Oh, okay." Evangeline says so with a smile.

As the four family members sit together, Taylor talks about the food.

"Mmm! It's the tessera delivered yesterday."

"How many times did you get tessera?"

"It's too many for me to count, princess."

Poppy knows there's something bad about tesserae, but she doesn't know what it is exactly aside from free food in exchange.

The family has a nice breakfast conversation, before they notice that it's time to prepare for the reapings.

"It's my last one. I just hope I don't get reaped."

"No you won't, big bro." Poppy smiles, then Taylor returns the favor.

They go back to the room that they share to change.

"I have this prepared for you, sweetie." Evangeline brings out a lovely knee-length white dress and white ballerina shoes.

"Thank you, Mom!" Poppy gives her mom a kiss. She has worn the dress in past reapings, but it looks newer than before.

She changes to the dress, and then takes out the flower crown from her drawer to wear it on her head, where her hair is left untied.

She looks at the mirror in a satisfying manner. She looks at her short and slim stature, then to a face most people consider cute. She looks at her long and wavy jet black hair, with the flower crown on top of her head.

She goes to the living room afterwards, where her parents and brother are waiting.

"Let us go, shall we?" Taylor says.

"Let's go!" Poppy says energetically.

They leave the house and make their way to the square.

"How is the cactus growing, Mom?"

"Oh, it's growing fine, sweetie."

"I want to see it when we go back home."

"Sure Poppy!"

They make it to the square after some time.

"Blanche!" Poppy calls out to her friend, who just entered the fifteen-year-old section.

"Poppy!" Blanche waves to Poppy.

Once Poppy enters the area after registration, she gets to be with Blanche. She is short and thin like Poppy, and also has wavy hair, albeit brown.

"You know, I've been helping my parents with the onions. They smell!"

"Oh yeah they do. I hate the smell of onions."

"You're lucky your parents just work on a garden."

"Yeah, haha. We actually have a cactus."

"Wow! That's so cool."

They continue chatting for some time. It didn't take long before the escort arrives.

"HOT! HOT! HOT!" he says with so much energy. He appears onstage with a microphone on his left hand. He is wearing a black tight suit from top to bottom. Surrounding him are faux flames, similar to the one Katniss Everdeen had on her chariot ride. Some people react surprised with the flames. Others think it's a Capitolite trend. He does not wear any shoes, but his feet are covered by the tight suit. His hands are open, for it is not covered by the tight suit nor is he wearing any gloves. "Welcome to the one hundred and fortieth annual reapings for the hunger games!" He does not have any altercations on the face, so it shows his fair skin. He is wearing a pair of shades, and his hair is on fire like his whole body. His hair is orange with hints of red and yellow, and it's standing up in the shape of a stereotypical flame.

"Former circus performer, class valedictorian, and on the fifth year as escort of District 11, I present to you, yours truly: El Kaliente!" He makes a pose, but he realizes that he is escorting, and not performing for the circus. "Oh wait, that's a stage name. My name is Calient Racha-Basco, but you can call me Cal. I am so honored to be escorting this district for the fifth time. It has been an eye-opening experience to be here." He lifts his shades up on the word 'eye-opening' to reveal his fiery red-orange contact lenses.

"Now, before I pick a slip from each bowl, let me introduce you to the one and only mentor for District 11. Please welcome Jakobbo Langka!"

A guy with dark skin makes his way to stage. He is tall, but he stands sleepily in front of the district.

"Mister Langka, is there anything you would like to say to your future tributes?"

"Ummm… good luck training by yourself."

There is an awkward pause, wherein some reacted negatively yet silently.

"Well thank you, mister mentor. I'm pretty sure your tributes have an idea on what you'll do to help them, hehe. Now we shall get to the reaping proper. Since we started with the girls last year, we'll be starting with the boys this year."

He goes to the side of the stage with the boys' bowl.

"Oh I hope I don't burn any of these slips, but in District 11, everything is HOT, HOT, HOT!" He touches the bowl, and everything there is on fire, or at least that's what it looks like. Some of the twelve-year-olds react surprised from this, but the others have seen the same trick over and over for the past four years.

"AHA! Our hottest guy for the year is… Layle Adriano!"

Everybody waits for the blind boy to make his way onstage, but he has too much trouble doing so alone. The peacekeepers are on their way to help him, but a chubby-cheeked baby-faced innocent-looking boy of Asian heritage announces, "I volunteer!"

A lot of people react out of shock, mostly gasps of shock. The fourteen-year-old boy wearing a navy blue cotton sweater over a formal white shirt with black slacks and dress shoes makes his way out of his age section. Tears trickle down from his dimpled cheeks, some even reaching his button nose. From his wide upturned copper-amber eyes, it is easy to tell that he is scared. He moves in a panicky manner, visibly shaking on every step. He has tanned skin that used to be lighter in color, and also black thick peat wavy hair that is uncombed, with an uneven fringe. He opens his mouth a bit in fear, and the gap between his two front teeth that he loathes so much can be seen.

 _This is working. Mwahaha! I just gotta keep my scared shit together._

When the thin and wiry boy makes it to stage, Calient asks a question he is obliged to ask from every volunteer.

"Can you introduce yourself to us?"

"My name is Owen Lee Bai."

"You volunteered for Mister Adriano."

"He is blind," he says in a sympathetic manner. He lets some more tears fall before saying, "He will not stand a chance in these games."

A few murmuring reactions come from the crowd.

"At the same time," he pauses a bit after and sniffs. "I want to help my sister live off somewhere away from poverty, so that she won't have to worry about us anymore."

Silence from the crowd.

"Thank you sir. Now let us move to the girls!"

Calient walks to the other side of the stage, but before he dips his hand in the bowl, it burns out of nowhere.

"Ooh! Now that's what I call HOT, HOT, HOT!"

He pretends that it is actual fire and dips his hand carefully into the bowl. He picks a slip and shakes off the faux fire that was on it.

"Our hottest girl of the year is… Poppy Sennett!"

"NOOOOO!" reacts a boy from the eighteen-year-old section. A short and slim girl with a flower crown on top of her untied wavy black hair stands emotionlessly on the fifteen-year-old section. Her friend gives her a sorrowful hug, and the peacekeepers repel them eventually, taking away the girl whose name was just called. Inside her light almond brown eyes and small mouth with curved lips is an emotion described as being too shocked to be sad and too scared to at least cry. Her dark skin obviously shows her Afro-American origins.

By the time she is at the base of the staircase to the stage, she rapidly makes her way up alone, leaving the peacekeepers slightly shocked yet relieved. She looks at the crowd and cameras blankly as she rubs her upturned nose.

"Poppy?" The escort waves his fiery hand in front of her face, but he receives no reaction from Poppy. "Well, without any further ado, let us congratulate our tributes and wish them good luck! May the odds be ever in our favor, District 11!"

He lets both tributes shake hands. Owen smiles nervously as he shakes Poppy's hand, yet Poppy just blinks her eyes from the unexpected reaping result.

Inside Owen, he thinks evilly, _She will be fun to play with. Now I just have to get her on my side._

* * *

Owen silently waits for someone to come. Layle shows up, which surprises him yet at the same time doesn't.

Layle sits down in front of him. "You didn't do it for me."

Owen remains with his poker face. He doesn't know if Layle really knows his true motives, yet he's not surprised he knows volunteering wasn't really for his friend.

"I trusted you, Owen. I know this is not for me." The tone is so serious, yet it doesn't sound like Layle was hurt upon knowing this.

Owen remains still for a while. He doesn't speak, for he does not know what he should say.

"All I can tell you right now is good luck! If you're gonna kill others, don't kill yourself." With that, Layle leaves the room. Owen knew his friend is blind, but he can still hear, and he's not stupid. How he manipulated Mrs. Adriano the day before made him think. _Maybe I was too obvious, or is it because I do it at least once a week?_

Nia comes to the room not long after.

"Owen! Why did you do that!?"

Owen faces Nia with a poker face.

"Owen, we're not playing petty games here. I don't wanna lose you too after we lost Mom, Dad, and Quinn."

"I'll be back."

"That's easy for you to say. I know you wanna do this for us, but this is not the best way to do it. There are other ways for us to alleviate ourselves from poverty. You didn't have to put your life at risk. What were you thinking!? This might be a nice act for Layle, but you are my family. I don't want you to be the one in danger. I'm not saying that I want Layle to be in the hunger games, but I don't want you there. Please tell me, honestly: What were you thinking!?"

Owen looks away from Nia and thinks of an answer that sounds credible.

"No. It doesn't matter. We're here now." The twenty-one-year-old girl hugs Owen and cries on him. She is obviously sad to see his brother going to the hunger games, but she thinks he has other motives he did not announce publicly. She has been very worried for him for the past few years, but he has been hiding something from her all this time. At least that's what she suspects.

"This is all I have for you." Nia gives Owen a dull yet interesting stone that once belonged to his twin brother. "I hope it brings you good luck. Please take care. I love you so much." Nia gives Owen one last hug before she runs out of the room.

Owen does not want to remember about his deceased family members, and yet he does not want to throw away his token, which used to be his twin brother's good luck charm.

 _Layle is right. I didn't do it for him. Alleviating us from poverty is one reason, but it is not my primary reason for volunteering._ He closes his eyes to focus. He has this sudden feeling wherein he's hurt from the recent events. At the same time, he feels a sudden lust for blood. Memories of his deceased family members flashback on his mind even though he resisted those thoughts. _Maybe this is how I'll cope with their loss. Maybe this is some sort of revenge from the bad life I was given. Maybe, just maybe, this is my way to forget them and how they were killed._

* * *

Poppy waits nervously for her family and friends. _What if I don't win? What if I'll never see my family again?_

Thinking of her family, Evangeline, Gabriel, and Taylor all arrive in tears. The first thing they do is hug her tightly. She starts crying too, for she does not know when she'll see them again.

"We can't do anything," says Evangeline tearily.

"Not even taking tesserae for you worked." Taylor sniffs aloud.

"We can only wish you the best of luck, princess." Gabriel gives Poppy a tight one-to-one hug, then Evangeline and Taylor follow.

"Please come back alive," Taylor begs with tears all over his face.

Poppy nods nervously while crying, and says, "I will big bro, I will."

Evangeline adds, "Don't hesitate having to kill others, because it's to kill or be killed."

"Yes, Mom."

Gabriel says, "Princess, your brother has something for you."

Taylor gives Poppy a necklace with a red rose.

"We decided to keep it as a token for you if ever you would be reaped," Evangeline adds.

Poppy sniffs and cries some more before saying, "Thank you."

Her family gives her one last hug before they leave the room. More tears flow from Poppy as she may never see her family again. It doesn't take long for her best friend, Blanche, to come and visit her too.

"Poppy!" Blanche runs up to Poppy and gives her a big hug. Both of them are in tears too.

"Everything will be fine. Everything will be fine." Blanche goes for the optimistic approach, but of course both of them are still in tears with what's happening in the present.

After a long time of hugging and crying, although tears still drip down from their faces, Blanche starts a conversation.

"Don't stay in the cornucopia for too long, Poppy. Don't draw attention too as much as possible." Blanche cries aloud some more. "I'm sorry, Poppy. I'm sorry for not volunteering for you."

"You didn't have to."

"The Owen kid volunteered for his friend. I should've done the same."

"No it's okay. You don't have to put your…"

"I'm sorry!" Blanche cries some more, feeling super guilty. "I'm not the best best friend you have."

"No, no, no. It's really okay." Poppy cries some more too.

The two wet themselves in tears before the peacekeeper knocks on the door, signaling that it's almost time.

"See you someday, Blanche."

Blanche pauses, then says, "We will meet again, Poppy."

They hug each other one last time before Blanche leaves the room.

* * *

AN:

This is not my best work, especially for the first chunk of the chapter. However, I have finally updated after almost 4 months of not updating! During this time, someone must've written 12 chapters of tribute introductions. :P Sorry for the really long wait. Hopefully I can have the last reaping chapter next week. I doubt my writing speed will let me finish it later this week.

As always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. :)


	17. D4 Reapings: Wealth in Different Forms

Don't be intimidated by the length of the chapter. Almost 1000 words of it is for this notice and the author's note below.

Enjoy the chapter! :)

* * *

Jeanne Maxima puts on her royal blue lipstick. She is almost ready to go to the training center, for the announcement she's been waiting for all year.

"Jeanne," Deidre calls from downstairs. "Jeanne honey!"

"Ready, Mom!"

Jeanne packs away her makeup and heads downstairs. The house she lives in is enormous and fancy. She makes her way down a spiraling stairs from the third floor, then another one down to the mezzanine, where her mother is waiting.

"Jeanne, it's time for us to go."

"Yes, Mother."

They make their way down the spiraling stairs across the living hall, where her grandparents are.

Louis says, "How is my beautiful granddaughter!"

Angelia adds, "I'm pretty sure she is mature enough to care for herself in the arena. We will finally have a victor in the household!"

"Of course I will come home with the crown!" Jeanne says it proudly. "Then we'll have another house, in the Victors' Village this time."

"You make us all so proud, sweetheart." Louis made his family rich when he started monopolizing the pearl industry. There are even weapons made of pearl sold to the training centers across the district.

"Good luck!" Angelia says so even if she already knew the result. Jeanne is way ahead of everyone else in terms of points earned among all training centers in the district.

"See you, Gramma and Grappa." Jeanne says it so respectfully. After all, she will inherit the pearl business in the future.

She leaves the house and walks to the training center with her mom.

"Mom, my blue lipstick is almost finished. I need a new one."

"Oh sure, dear."

"My eyeliners also smell like cat's pee. I want a new one."

"Yes, dear."

"Also, in my room, there are so many cobwebs. Is the avox not cleaning the house!?"

"She must've forgotten. We can scold her later."

"Oh Mom, did you know, I met this girl who is rich AF, but she's prettier than me!"

"What did you do?"

"Mom, she's prettier than me! Why would I want to make friends with someone prettier than me!?"

"Okay, okay."

They chatter some more as they enter the helicopter that will take them to the training center. The surroundings are green, since they live in the part of District 4 that is farthest from the coast. They own more than half of the lands in the district after all.

As they arrive at the training center in style, Deidre waits for the ceremony to start as her daughter makes her way backstage.

"Jeanne, why won't you take a seat out there first?" says Delta.

"I don't have to stay there with the rest of the weaklings."

"Ooh, someone is too confident today."

Jeanne raises her head up with a look.

"Are you trying to intimidate me? Your sponsor goods will have to go through me."

With that statement, Jeanne changes her face expression with a friendlier one.

"Now that's better. Let's do this!"

From the stage, they can hear the person starting the ceremony. At some point, he calls the first mentor for this year's games.

"Please welcome our victor from the hundred and twentieth games, Double Delta!"

People applaud as the mentor makes her way onstage.

"Miss Delta, will you please announce to us our chosen volunteer for this year's games?"

"I'd be so honored to!" Delta takes out a fancy envelope from her pocket. She opens it and announces, "The chosen volunteer District Four has selected for the One hundred and fortieth hunger games is… Jeanne Maxima!"

As people applaud, Jeanne appears onstage while blowing kisses on her way to the center.

"Is there anything you would like to say for being our chosen volunteer this year, Jeanne?" Delta asks.

With a graceful smile, Jeanne says, "It has been over a decade since District Four brought home its last victor. It's about time we do it again this year, with me representing us all!"

A lot of people clap and cheer excitedly.

"Shall we call on our male mentor?" asks Delta.

"Oh yes. Let us please welcome our victor from the hundred and twenty-ninth games, Mister Tommy 'Tornado' Rotterdam!"

A guy from the other side of the stage appears as he takes his shirt off and shows off his muscles and tanned skin. Most girls from the audience scream "Tommy! Ahhh!" as he makes his way to the center. He moves his eyebrows as he makes eye contact with some girls.

"Mister Rotterdam, do you have the name of our male volunteer for this year?"

"Yes we do!" Tommy says it in a hunky tone. "Unfortunately, Oliver Tabora is not here with us today. However, I have already told him and his family that he has been selected to volunteer this year."

"Let us congratulate our chosen volunteers this year, District Four!"

Everybody applauds at the end of the ceremony. Later that night, a party is held. Jeanne arrives with her mother at the ballroom, while her grandparents are on their way via helicopter too.

"Jeanne!" one of her friend calls. She looks at the direction to see three of them waiting for her.

"Abby, Miyaya, Bettie!" Jeanne throws her bag for her mom to hold.

"What took you so long?" Miyaya asks.

"Abby, where's your makeup? Let's do it in the washroom."

"Okay."

"Let's go girls!"

On the way to the washroom, Jeanne keeps talking with her friends.

"How's your modeling going, Bettie?"

"I already passed my application to work in the Capitol. Soon, I'll be modeling there."

"That's awesome!" Miyaya comments.

Jeanne adds, "I knew you had the potential. The people in the Capitol will be impressed to have you!" Bettie Hamish is nineteen, out of reaping age anyway.

They enter the washroom, and Jeanne tells the eighteen-year-old Abercrombie Kipling to sit on one of the fancy chairs as the former does the latter's makeup. Jeanne wants to tell Abby that the latter is not pretty without makeup, so she needs it when she's hanging out with Jeanne, but she doesn't want to offend her friend. Abby is a friend, not a stranger.

"There you go!" says Jeanne as she finishes Abby's makeup after some time.

"Pretty girl!" Miyaya adds, then jokes, "Put me some makeup too, Jeanne."

"You're good already." Jeanne knows Miyaya Jelin is naturally beautiful, so she just needs minimal makeup.

"Oh come on, bestie. I'm sure you're not satisfied."

Jeanne enjoys putting makeup on her friends. She can't deny that she is not satisfied enough.

"Okay, fine."

"Yes!"

"Sit, girl."

Jeanne applies more makeup on her eighteen-year-old best friend since childhood. Miyaya's family is almost as rich as Jeanne's, and the two have been inseparable when they are on the same neighborhood.

"There you go!"

"Fancy!" comments Bettie.

"Hot!" Miyaya adds.

The girls leave the washroom, and the rest of the events in the party unfold. Jeanne gives a speech at one point.

"It is with honor that I will be representing District Four this year. It has been a dream come true to make it this far after working this hard. Let us bring home victory once more!" She raises her champagne glass, and the rest of the people in the party do so too. A big round of applause comes after the drinking at the end of the speech.

* * *

Horden Tanase stays at the beach staring at the starry night sky. He didn't attend the party. He doesn't waste his time there anymore after trying it once. He attended the ceremony this afternoon, however. He knows for sure that he is not the top trainee, not the chosen volunteer this year. It's not his main goal in life to be a volunteer now and a victor later, but he has other plans. Horden still has another year before he is no longer eligible for the reapings.

"Horden," calls his girlfriend, Aurora Mitchell.

"Rory, you came."

The eighteen-year-old red-haired blue-eyed girl lies down beside Horden to stargaze. The two have been best friends since childhood, but Horden has been treating Aurora as more than just a friend. She is what Horden loves most in the world next to family. Horden gives her a small peck on the cheek.

Aurora smiles. "Let me guess, you haven't done your job yet."

"I just did, actually." Horden was supposed to clean certain parts of the ship during the day, but he didn't like following the order strictly. "You know how I work better at night."

The two stare back into the night sky.

"Someday, I will own the ship and be its captain."

Aurora giggles. "You always say that, babe."

"Of course, because it will be you and me, together, sailing far far away from here, exploring new places and making new experiences."

"I always love it when you say that, babe."

"I'd do anything for you, Rory."

Aurora giggles again. "What I like about you, Horden, is your loyalty." She returns to Horden a peck on the cheek.

As they grew up with a group of friends, Aurora became the center of attention. Horden was a quiet but jealous boy when he sees other boys flirting with Aurora, but he ultimately won her heart. They've been friends for a long time, but they only started dating each other when he turned sixteen. Sixteen is not too old yet not too young for Horden. Their birthdays are just months apart anyway.

A drunk sailor exits from one of the ships. He collapses to the sand not long after. Horden and Aurora notices this, but it's been a normal occurrence since they stay here every night before or after Horden does his job being a ship janitor.

 _I'll be a better ship captain than he is._

"I heard them imposing a rule that no one below twenty-one should be at the beach by nine in the evening."

"I heard that too, but I don't care. I have the right to live life my way, and if I want to stay at the beach even as late as one in the morning like now, then I will. Rules are just made to keep society organized, and I'm not a rules person, ever, as you know."

"Rules are meant to be broken," Aurora says in a singsong tone. "Hehe."

They stay under the night sky for another while, just thinking of recent events, of the future, of the past.

"I'm glad you still want to be a ship captain even though your father and older brother died from a boating accident."

"It was a murky day and stormy night. None of us saw it coming. We couldn't do anything about it. At least they are in a better place now."

Aurora just thinks, then nods solemnly.

They sleep on the beach for the rest of the mornight, when there are no more exchanges of words. They just stay with each other, beside each other. Later on, they wake up from the light of the sun rising.

"It's beautiful, babe."

"Just like you, babe."

The sun slowly detaches itself from the surface of the water, the horizon. When it is as bright as the typical morning, they both head back home. They still have to prepare for the reapings, even though neither of them are expected to go to the games. Horden escorts Aurora home first, before he goes back to his house which does not look like much. Horden's family isn't the most fortunate. Life may have been difficult for them, but he is still thankful for them, because he wouldn't be wherever he is now without their guidance. Despite being poor too, he has enough time working out at the training center. He believes training would get him somewhere, even though it is not his main dream to volunteer at the reapings and then win the hunger games.

"Good morning, Horden."

"Good morning, Mom."

He gives her a hug, and she smells him.

"Sleeping in the beach again, eh?"

"There's nothing wrong about it, is there?" Horden has a neutral-esque smile on his face to show that he is just asking and not being mean.

"No, nothing dear." Ilaria gives him a warm smile. Horden smiles back before going to his room to get his towel and have a shower. After taking a shower, he takes another nap on his bed with only his underwear. It's too early to prepare for the reapings.

Randell, who is a year and some months younger than Horden, wakes him up a few hours later.

"Bro, the reapings."

Horden wakes up right away to realize that it is indeed almost time for the reapings, so he gets up and prepares. He gets a pair of jeans first, followed by a green shirt. He prefers simpler clothes, because life is too complicated to look extravagant. He would've gone shirtless too since he doesn't like being restricted to society's rules. He likes going around shirtless, and standing out from the crowd. However, it would feel too odd for him to do this on reaping day. What if he gets reaped and no one volunteers for him since Oliver was not present yesterday? What if he ends up going to the Capitol without a shirt?

So yes, he wears a pair of jeans, a green shirt, followed by a black leather sweater. He wears his dark boots when he is at his house's doorstep. Ilaria, Randell, and Horden leave for the reapings afterwards. They make their way to the plaza, where Horden and Randell register before heading to their respective age groups.

It doesn't take long for the reaping proper to start. The escort arrives in aqua blue, as usual. She has blue afro hair, blue eyes, blue eyelashes, blue eyebrows, light blue skin, pearl earrings, blue lips, and a short but puffy blue ball gown. The short escort almost trips from her light blue pearl heels while making her way to the microphone.

She taps the mic and says, "Test, testing. One, two, three." She clears her throat, then starts speaking as escort for real.

"Welcome to the one hundred and fortieth reapings of District Four. My name is Ezairlayne Aquaffee, and I just love staying here for a sixteenth year!" She looks aged and experienced after all, and the district likes her in average.

"Now I could play the video like how we do it back then, but maybe you'd rather have me call on your mentors like how we do it these past few years, yes?"

The crowd cheers, and Ezairlayne says, "Without any further ado, let us all welcome Mister Tommy Rotterdam and Miss Delta Delta!"

The two mentors make their way onstage from opposing ends.

"As we all know, District Four's mentors got to select and talk to their tributes at least a day before the reapings. Isn't that correct? Let us see what we have then. Let's start with you Miss Delta."

Ezairlayne gives Delta the mic, and the latter says, "May I now call on Jeanne Maxima."

A girl with an hourglass figure for a body and a pretty face moves out of the eighteen-year-old section. She has a healthy weight matching her height of 5'8". Her dark blue satin dress and her shiny black heels make the escort react _Wow!_ silently. She has a pale skin tone, mostly covered up in the face with immaculate makeup. A fair amount of freckles are beneath the makeup. She has a fairly weak jawline and her cheekbones are fairly defined, but she contours both of them to make herself seem as if she is the prettiest person ever, as beauty is her main priority. She has an updo on her blonde hair, and she has greenish-bluish eyes ranging from green to blue from the inner part of the iris going out. She wears a pearl bracelet for her district token on her right arm to remind herself and to show people where she is coming from.

"District Four, Jeanne Maxima!" Ezairlayne says it out loud while the audience applauds. "Let us now go to Mister Rotterdam."

Ezairlayne gives Tommy the mic. In something formal like this, he is well dressed, unlike yesterday. "Hi, good morning everyone. Unfortunately, I have received bad news that Oliver Tabora has checked in at the hospital yesterday due to typhoid fever."

Ezairlayne gets the mic from Tommy. "Ooh! In a case like this, we shall bring out the reaping bowls, or at least the male reaping bowl."

With that announcement from the escort, the male reaping bowl is brought to the stage. The reaping bowls were prepared backstage if ever the chosen volunteer could not volunteer for certain reasons. This was one of the cases.

"I shall now pick a slip from the bowl." Ezairlayne announces it before doing so. It takes her a while to dig for a good slip since her height does match the bowl's. "Aha!" She takes it out, opens it, and reads it. "Our male tribute for District Four… is Yoshi Takorosu!"

A long-haired Asian dude steps out of the fifteens' section. He runs to the direction of the stage, and then bumps into a peacekeeper. People his age laugh at this, but a different peacekeeper quickly silences them. Yoshi gets to the stage with a smile. He can still see some people holding laughter from his action.

"Any volunteers for Yoshi?" Ezairlayne asks, but someone shouts, "I volunteer!" less than a second after.

The sound comes from the seventeen-year-old section, and the guy who volunteers is 5'8" like Jeanne. He has a muscular build with tanned skin, from spending his time outdoors doing physical activities. He has short red wavy hair and light blue eyes. Freckles are dotted around his face, a lot of them. He reaches the stage and Ezairlayne approaches him calmly.

"Well darling, can you introduce yourself to us?"

"My name… my name is Horden Tanase."

"Interesting! Can you tell us more about yourself?"

"Uh… I am a ship janitor." Some people laugh at him, but he doesn't mind it. "Someday, I wish to be the captain of my own ship."

"How wonderful! I love your ambition, child."

Horden smiles a bit, then continues, "I also want a better life for my family, my friends, and myself."

"Is that the reason why you volunteered?"

Horden nods.

"Wonderful! I believe you will represent us well in place of… Oliver, was it? Yes, Oliver. District Four, your tributes for the one hundred and fortieth hunger games!"

Horden shakes hands with Jeanne, but she looks away from him.

Jeanne thinks, _Ewww… ship captain from ship janitor? He's kidding, right? He doesn't even look pretty for a boy. I'd be surprised if he has a girlfriend. What the hell happened to Oliver!? I don't want this guy as my district partner!_

 _Miss beautiful moneybags eh? Someone like her can't live a simple life like mine. If she knows how to be fake though, I can do the same too. I'd just rather not, for now. I know she's an arrogant sucker from training._ Horden thinks.

The two district partners who are disgusted of each other are each led to a room for their respective goodbyes.

* * *

The first people to visit Jeanne are three of her friends, Miyaya, Abby, and Bettie. They all have a group hug with Jeanne to start off.

"We know you will win!" Miyaya strongly believes.

"Yeah!" agrees Bettie.

Abby adds, "You can slay everyone on your way with those bow and arrows."

"Oh hell yes I will! I have one issue though, and that's my district partner being a janitor."

"I know right!?" Miyaya reacts.

"Too bad Oliver can't join you," Abby says.

"Yeah, too bad," Jeanne says disappointedly. "Oh well, I can kill him in the bloodbath."

"But what if he kills you first?" says Abby. "Don't kill him right away. Instead stay low from him and then set a trap to surprise him."

"I was thinking of that too," Bettie agrees.

"I'll see how I can get rid of him, but right now I'm stuck with him. Imagine me holding his hand on the chariots. Yuck!"

"We can't do anything anymore," says Miyaya disappointedly. "Oh well."

After they all hug as a group for one last time, her friends are replaced by her family.

"We wish you good luck, sweetheart!" says the sixty-two-year-old grandfather before giving her a kiss on the forehead.

"You're gonna make us all prouder!" The sixty-five-year-old grandmother adds while semi-dancing excitedly.

"Oh yes I will," Jeanne says confidently with a smile.

Deidre says, "You know what your biggest weapon is."

Jeanne makes a face and blinks her eyes. "Oh yes I do, Mother."

"Good." The thirty-seven-year-old mother grins wide.

Jeanne follows, but fades back to normal afterwards. "But Mom, I don't like my district partner! Can't we replace him before we go!?"

"I'm not the rule maker here, Jeanne."

"Hmph!"

"Jeanne honey, money can't buy you a new district partner."

"Oh yes it can if it was done earlier."

"But who knew Oliver couldn't make it?"

"I should've known his absence yesterday was a bad omen."

"I don't think Horden is that bad," inputs Louis.

"Grappa! Are you serious!? He's a janitor, a ship janitor!"

Louis is about to add some more, but Deidre says, "Jeanne honey, he's tolerable. Somebody can be worse than him."

"Yeah, hahaha!" Angelia agrees.

"I don't care, Mom. I don't want him."

"You're stuck with him." Deidre frowns, then smiles and hugs her before the rest of Jeanne's family leaves.

She waits in the room patiently, and gets another guest.

"Father!"

"Jeanne!" calls the thirty-nine-year-old man.

The two hug as they have not seen in each other in a long time. Well, not too long since they do see each other at least four times a month.

"Jeanne babe, I love you so much."

"Love you too, Father."

"Please do well in the arena, Jeanne. This is no joke."

"I will make you proud! I won't ever disappoint."

"Jeanne, you have to come back. Even though I'm not your real father, I will miss you too much when you're gone."

"Oh come on, Father. I will show you my true potential when you watch me on TV. Also, I still don't understand completely how you're not my real father, Father."

"Your mom doesn't talk about it very much. I'll tell you when… when we meet again in the Victors' Village." Sergio Vuitton gives Jeanne a wink, and she returns it confidently.

They hug one last time before Sergio leaves the room.

 _I am not using my looks to lure that ship janitor of a district partner. I have to use someone else._

* * *

Randell and Ilaria are the first to visit Horden.

Ilaria says "You have to come back." In Ilaria's voice is fear. The fear that Horden would never come back like Gared and her husband.

"I promise I will," Horden says. "This is for you two. You know we're not alone in this."

"We'll miss you while you're gone, big bro."

"I will surely come back. Don't you worry."

"That's what Gared last said when he and your dad went fishing in a murky day."

"I will get us out of this poverty. It shouldn't be too hard I guess."

"We wish you luck, big bro!"

He hugs them individually once more, before Aurora replaces his family in the room. They exchange hugs for a while, before somebody starts a conversation.

"Babe, I want to let you know that if you don't come back, I will be going after you."

"What do you mean?"

"I'll volunteer next year."

"I thought you're already past reaping age?"

"Oh yeah, right. I forgot."

They giggle at the plan that was not thought out very well.

"I will definitely come back, so don't you worry."

"It makes me worry that you'll be gone for a while."

Horden holds Aurora for a long kiss on the lips.

"There. You don't have to worry about me. I will be with you even in here." Horden gently taps Aurora's chest, at the area where the heart is. They give each other another long kiss.

"I want you to remember about this even while you're gone." Aurora gives Horden a picture of them sharing ice cream on Aurora's last birthday. "Please take care of yourself."

"I will."

Aurora departs with tears of mixed emotions. Another person comes in after Aurora exits.

"Ryon!"

"Horden my buddy!" Aurora's nineteen-year-old brother greets.

They do a personal handshake upon personal contact. They have been best friends ever since they learned about each other's common goal: To protect Aurora from any harm.

"What's up buddy?"

"I never announced it to the district, but I volunteered for your sake too."

"Why?"

"When I win and have enough money for us all, I will help you change your gender from male to female."

"OMG! Raleigh is waiting inside me."

"It is my other motivation to win this year's games."

"You know you didn't have to do that."

"But you are my best friend, and I don't want you to be unhappy with your life."

Ryon smiles.

"Once we get the money to do it, then you're gonna be Raleigh like you've always been wishing."

Ryon giggles in amusement and excitement. "Thank you, buddy. I can't thank you enough. Come home for us all. We'll be waiting for your victory."

They do their personal handshake once more before Ryon leaves the room. It is Horden's dream to repay to his family and friends the life he has right now. Without them, he would not even be here. The love they give to him, the love he gives to them - it's unconditional. It is his motivation to bring home the win for District 4 this year.

He smiles and thinks, _Soon, we'll have a better life in a place called home._

* * *

AN:

10 months!? It took 10 months for me to finish the reapings!? Well, better finished than never. :D Now is the time to play with the tributes. We have 11 volunteers and 13 reaped tributes, so it will be fun writing with this tribute roster. Thank you once again to everyone who submitted whether I accepted your tribute or not. There were a couple of good ones who didn't make it because there just wasn't enough space for them all. :(

My plan right now is to have a reaping recap and analysis with our master of ceremonies, followed by half of the train rides. We'll then go back to the Capitol for the stunt people and the stylists. The other half of the train rides will follow after. Ignore that part of the outline on my profile for now, because I'm still not sure how many chapters the train rides will be in total.

So normally, I would ask you for your Top 5 from the whole roster that we have, but there's the poll for that. Check it out if you haven't. If it's not there, then I just forgot to make it appear on my profile. Anyway, instead of your Top 5 tributes, I'll just ask you for your alliance predictions. Who do you think will stick together? Who will go solo? I already have the tributes grouped, but I just want to know who you think the tributes will be allied with based on the reapings. By the way, I'm taking what was indicated on the form into consideration, so if you said you wanted your tribute in a big alliance, expect them there. If you want them alone, they will be alone. Aside from alliance predictions, I want to know which tributes you think are the least developed. That way, I can improve on writing those tributes come train rides.

Next, sponsor points. I have tallied the points with the help of a spreadsheet file. If you are also keeping track of your score, and you think there is something wrong, just PM me. I have the breakdown on the file. I may or may not be strict with "substantial" or "decent" review, but I look at length and content, so it is possible to get a 0 despite reviewing. :o Again, we can discuss through PM if you think something isn't right.

If you look at the sponsor points, some got way too much points, others can barely sponsor something. A lot of people submit but don't review, and I don't really mind. Reviews with enough content can sometimes change my opinion on certain things though, so it is encouraged for you to review, not forced. :)

Because I think I'm a nice person, you now have the opportunity to earn 100 bonus sponsor points. How? If you noticed, I never revealed usernames of successful submitters. They will be when the tribute is dead or has won, but since I didn't reveal anybody officially, here's my incentive: For 100 sponsor points, PM me which tribute came from which submitter. You have to get 20 out of 24 correct to get the full bonus. You may resubmit a wrong answer. The deadline is when I release the chapter before the bloodbath. The list below will be your guide. At the same time, you can look through old reviews or PM fellow readers to find the correct answers. It shouldn't be too hard to get 100 free points. Participation is not required, but it gives me an idea if you're still around here reading. I don't think I should kill tributes for submitters being AWOL or MIA, but your tribute can't win if I think you're no longer reading. ;)

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :3 Here's the list of story participants and their sponsor points.

AmericanPi - 460  
CelticGames4 - 430  
SilverflowerxRavenpaw - 345  
Golden Moon Huntress - 305  
HogwartsDreamer113 - 280  
LiveFreeOrDie - 265  
DarthDyos - 210  
tracelynn - 90  
MMJ . Rich - 85  
ThomasHungerGamesFan - 80  
goldie031 - 65  
dreams and desperation - 55  
PotatoInUrFace - 55  
IVolunteerAsAuthor - 45  
Witch of Mockingjay - 45  
SilverAshes13 - 45  
Mystical Pine Forest - 45  
LokiThisIsMadness - 40  
DaughterOfTigris - 35  
Beauthg03 - 30  
JaymanRepublic - 30  
Alexcias - 30  
Xx-Katerina-xX - 25  
Astronaughty - 20  
Too Lazy To Think Of Something - 20  
Calebbeers21 - 15  
ShunKazamis-Girl - 15  
Iamnotatimelord* - 15  
Apollo's Slytherpuff Daughter - 0


	18. Preparations

AN: I uploaded the D4 reapings a few weeks ago, but it was not noticed by everyone since FFN alerts were down that time. Kindly check it out if you haven't. :) Meanwhile, this chapter is supposed to be an intro for the recap and analysis chapter. I uploaded this early because I can't promise updating really soon. I'm working on it whenever I can. I just tend to be really slow at everything in life. D:

* * *

"Arf arf!"

As Truffles and Isis return backstage from an early lunch break, they are approached by a man with wavy shoulder-length blue hair and sky blue eyeglasses.

"You must be the Master of Ceremonies," says the tall man, who has light red skin underneath his white polo, rainbow blazers, and dark blue slacks.

"Oh, yes I am! Isis." She reaches out her hand.

The man shakes it and replies, "Morty. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too!"

"I am one of the gamemakers, and Alistair sent me here to give you the list of tributes, mentors, escorts, stylists, and gamemakers for this year."

Morty hands the papers over to Isis, and she skims through them carefully. There is one image of each person in the whole document. The contents in bold on the papers are as follows:

Tributes:

District 1:

Argentum Montgomery, 17, Volunteered; ...

Annaleigh St. Cloud, 17, Volunteered; ...

District 2:

Rufus Cornelii, 12, Volunteered; ...

Brenna O'Hare, 18, Volunteered; ...

District 3:

Chip Tablet, 13, Reaped; ...

Tira Hyde, 16, Reaped; ...

District 4:

Horden Tanase, 17, Volunteered; ...

Jeanne Maxima, 18, Volunteered; ...

District 5:

Filament Harmon-Fierro, 14, Reaped; ...

Ciara Graceanne Westley, 15, Reaped; ...

District 6:

Thomas Barnaby, 18, Volunteered; ...

Kylie Ford, 16, Reaped; ...

District 7:

Orion Fleming, 15, Reaped; ...

Susie Ye, 17, Volunteered; ...

District 8:

Ingeo Olefin, 15, Reaped; ...

Lainey Sash, 18, Volunteered; ...

District 9:

Dorian Belcorn, 18, Volunteered; ...

Macy Roe, 12, Reaped; ...

District 10:

Kobe Bridger, 13, Reaped; ...

Arlenna Winnie Scott, 13, Reaped; ...

District 11:

Owen Lee Bai, 14, Volunteered; ...

Poppy Sennett, 15, Reaped; ...

District 12:

Dante Blackwell, 14, Reaped; ...

Corinna Pickett, 15, Reaped; ...

Mentors:

District 1:

Ace Starling, 32, Victor of 124th Games; ...

District 2:

Joan Ho, 26, Victor of 132nd Games; ...

Cyrus Mackintosh, 18, Victor of 136th Games; ...

District 3:

Azriel Ruby, 23, Victor of 133rd Games; ...

Lorenzo "Renz" Delcroix, 24, Victor of 134th Games; ...

District 4:

Delta "Double Delta" Delta, 38, Victor of 120th Games; ...

Tommy "Tornado" Rotterdam, 28, Victor of 129th Games; ...

District 5:

Caitlin Theardie, 45, Victor of 110th Games; ...

Magnette "Maggie" Quirlix, 27, Victor of 127th Games; ...

District 6:

Violet Aureon, 70, Victor of 85th Games; ...

Robert Royce, 21, Victor of 131st Games; ...

District 7:

History Grenadine, 39, Victor of 117th Games; ...

Woodrow Stirling, 21, Victor of 137th Games; ...

District 8:

Olaf Rossburgh, 40, Victor of 118th Games; ...

Karlasia "Karla" Trappist, 18, Victor of 138th Games; ...

District 9:

Amaya Villanueva, 56, Victor of 101st Games; ...

Alana Tapiocassava, 20, Victor of 135th Games; ...

District 10:

Abraham Braunock, 44, Victor of 114th Games; ...

Kylene Roa, 25, Victor of 125th Games; ...

District 11:

Jakobbo Langka, 59, Victor of 99th Games; ...

District 12:

Larry Rockenstein, 37, Victor of 116th Games; ...

Escorts:

Leif Ray Khan, District 2 Escort since 138th Games; ...

Predicate "Cate" Clause, Substitute District 3 Escort; ...

Ezairlayne Aquaffee, District 4 Escort since 125th Games; ...

Vivianelli Vi Vanillanillan, District 5 Escort since 101st Games; ...

Mayonnaise "May" Puddington, District 6 Escort since 139th Games; ...

Jim Jam, District 7 Escort since 133rd Games; ...

Viktorio Antonio Mario "Vamp" Polyhaima, District 8 Escort since 125th Games; ...

Neomett Elphyz, District 9 Escort since 130th Games; ...

Leilah Yat, Neophyte District 10 Escort; ...

Calient Racha-Basco, District 11 Escort since 136th Games; ...

Evezleya von Evezelle, District 12 Escort since 138th Games; ...

Stylists:

Belvedere Spiros, 50; ...

Belle Tristen, 23; ...

Sophia Tristen, 23; ...

Valerie Tristen, 23; ...

Anakyn Skyavich, 34; ...

Latisha Morwan, 29; ...

Marjorita Tisho, 23; ...

Totochan Lierro, 35; ...

Maria Mavina Heatherlone-Baux, 40; ...

Kate Daphne Korbin-Bandarras, 39; ...

(The paper is torn below this part.)

Gamemakers:

Alistair Lysander, 54, Head Gamemaker since 137th Games; ...

(Everyone else in the list has a first name or nickname along with a picture.)

Jom

Radon

Cassine

Brenda

Solomon

Genji

Al

Morty

Vint

Ylvia

Willianna

Deck

Cress

Axel

Nova

Sedna

Lirlina

Xylev

Ethyl

Toria

Celestina

Arc

Zorro

Iota

"Truffles! Why did you do that?"

"Arf." It says so in an apologetic tone as it ripped off or destroyed the papers for the stylist list.

"It's okay." Isis forgives Truffles as she rubs its head. "Now, I have a few comments and questions."

"I knew you'd say that."

They both take a seat.

"I'm impressed with the number of volunteers that we have."

"Don't worry. When you watch the recaps, they each have their unique reasons."

"Alright then. What else?" She crosses her legs and taps the floor with her foot on the ground. "Oh! Why is there a lack of mentors in District One?"

"Good question! Nobody here is sure of the reason, but I was told by Ace that her co-victors are either sick or dead. I'm not sure whether to believe her or not."

"Alright then. Next, why is there no escort for District One?"

"We have received reports that Tamara Etherson got a stroke early this morning."

"Eek!"

"Ace said during the reapings that she had an emergency. Not everybody has to know what happened."

"Of course. Moving on..."

"Wait, we contacted former District Six escort, Frank Specular, to be District One's escort starting this year. Although, it's too late for him to be present for the reapings at this point. All he can do now is just keep them company and help them for sponsors."

"How long did he become escort for District Six?"

"Ten years. May Puddington took his place last year when he said he will take a break from escorting."

"Oh! I see now. Moving on..." She goes through the list again, and she does not find anything erroneous-looking. "Well, I guess it's time to be ready for the reaping recaps and analysis."

"Yes, in fifteen minutes."

"Great!"

"I'll be there to accompany you because i can summarize the biography of each tribute for you."

"Oh yes, I'll need that. Thank you!"

They wait a while, before Isis is called to the stage and to her seat.


	19. Reaping Recap & Analysis by Isis & Morty

The show starts as Isis is called to her seat for the show.

"As we all know, today is reaping day! In case you don't know what it is, which I hope you know, it is a day wherein one boy and one girl from each of the twelve remaining districts will be sent into the hunger games. These kids - or teens rather - have to be between the ages twelve to eighteen inclusive."

Isis organizes the papers she was given earlier.

"As your host, I will do a recap of the reapings, so that we'll get to know our twenty-four tributes for this year's annual hunger games. But before I begin, I'd like to welcome a guest. Today, we have a gamemaker, who is also an analyst, who will help us with each tribute's short biography, so that we can get to know each tribute better. Without any further ado, please welcome Morty Ptessel!"

A round of applause comes from the audience in Isis's talkshow, as Morty makes his way to the guest's seat.

"Thank you for inviting me here today, Miss Ambergayle."

"It is a pleasant pleasure to have you here with us today, Gamemaker Ptessel." Isis now turns to the audience. "In a short while, we will be playing the recap of District One. They are short on mentors this year, and also short of an escort. Mister Ptessel, can you tell us what happened?"

"Um, the escort assigned to One had an emergency this morning, so she was unable to attend the reaping proper. As for the mentors, Miss Starling informed me that her co-victors are either sick or dead."

"Ah, Ace! Who could forget the last victor of District One? They've been overdue for a victor."

"Indeed."

"Now, let us play the recap for District One."

The camera switches to the big screen, and the recap plays.

* * *

"Sorry District One. Our escort had an emergency this morning." Ace Starling spoke on the mic with her loud and intimidating voice. "For formality's sake, I am Ace Starling, District One's last victor from the 124th games." She is applauded before giving her speech to the district. "Now, do me a favor, volunteer only if you're confident that you won't disappoint me."

"I volunteer!" said two boys in unison. One of them climbed and crawled to the front of the stage without using the stairs. He knocked off the other guy from getting the mic from his hands.

"Hey!"

"Get back there! You don't deserve it." Ace then turned to the successful volunteer. "Just say your name."

He introduced himself with a hint of laziness in his voice. "My name is Argentum Montgomery, and I will be the next victor of District One!" There was a hint of laziness in his voice. A few people booed him, but a few cheers could be heard too.

"Ladies?"

There was a rambling noise at the seventeen- and eighteen-year-old female section.

"Ladies, anyone?"

Somebody walked forward after a while. By the time another volunteer tried to run to the stage with great speed, Annaleigh was already holding the mic.

"Too late! You should've reacted earlier" Ace criticized intimidatingly. "Carry on, brave girl!"

She said with confidence, "I am Annaleigh St. Cloud, and I will show everyone that District One is not all about stupid girls who overreact dramatically." Violent reactions came from the seventeen- and eighteen-year-old sections.

"Silence! She is right." Ace continued, "I wish I wasn't the last one to prove that. Well then, we have your tributes for the 140th hunger games, Argentum Montgomery and Annaleigh St. Cloud!"

Most people gave them a round of applause while they shook hands.

* * *

Isis comments, "Wow! Miss Starling is harsh. We can definitely see why she is very determined to win every year. Both Argentum and Annaleigh seem to have potential. What do you think?"

"We can see some determination with Annaleigh. That's for sure. She volunteered not just because she believes in herself, but also because she considers herself strategic. She seems to have a life of luxury too since her family owns a diamond factory. They say she gets along better with boys than with girls."

"Now that's interesting. How about Argentum? He seems like a confident guy."

Morty takes a deep breath, then says, "Overconfident is the word."

"Oh!"

"Yes. His life at home is normally just training, but he did not take it a hundred percent seriously. He likes playing video games too as a hobby."

"How about his family background?"

"His father has a policy about the family fortune. Whoever is the most deserving inherits everything. The other sibling must work hard by starting from scratch."

"Wow! That must be why he volunteered."

"It's what is speculated."

"Now let us take a look at District Two."

* * *

Leif Ray Khan went to the boy's bowl and picked out a slip of paper. He then went to the girl's bowl to pick another slip of paper. He returned to the center and to the mic.

"Before I read the names, do we have any volunteers?" Leif asked. There was a pause.

"Louder, girl!" Someone shouted.

"I volunteer!" said another voice aloud.

"And I," said a short boy who appears from behind the stage. "Volunteer!"

He walked slowly to the center of the stage. He then put his hands in his jacket pockets. Menwhile, she made it onstage and stared blankly to the crowd.

"We'll start with you kid. What is your name, and why did you volunteer?"

"I am Rufus Cornelii, and I volunteered because I am finally eligible to join the games. I am excited to bring glory to the district and make my family proud of me. My great grandfather was a victor, and he told me what life is like after winning the hunger games. I will follow my great grandfather's footsteps, and I want to be one of the youngest victors in the history of Panem!"

"Wow! Now that's what I call determination!"

There was a small percentage of negative reactions from the crowd but also an approving round of applause on another part of the crowd.

"Now young lady, what is your name, and why did you volunteer?"

"My name is Brenna O'Hare, and I am here to make my district proud," she said monotonously. "After all, I've been training since I was seven."

"Ooh! Very interesting!"

The volunteer's friend shouted, "Way to go girl!"

Leif let the two volunteers shake hands. He then raised Brenna's left hand on his right and Rufus's right hand on his left. "District Two, our representatives for the One Hundred and Fortieth Hunger Games!"

* * *

"Okay, so we have a twelve-year-old career!"

"Yes we do! The boy is one of our youngest tributes this year. Rufus Cornelii is from a middle class family, youngest of 6 siblings. Like he said, his great grandpa was a victor."

"Ooh! Anything else?"

"He is something. Like, he once got expelled on a school he burned."

"Oh my gosh!"

"He is very infamous from his community. People call him names like Cicero. He even cut his nails into spikes!"

"Oh my gosh! He's twelve, but he's scary."

"I know! Aside from his pyromania, he has experience with acrobatics, and he is said to be smart, genius smart, borderlining crazy."

"Oh wow! I've tried acrobatics once, but I didn't like it."

Morty flips a page.

"Now to Brenna. Did you notice her monotonous voice?"

"Yes. She is very introverted for a career."

"Huh, okay. Do you think she's hiding something underneath her monotony?"

"Like what she said, she trained since she was seven. She was orphaned at a very young age, and District Two gets their physically fit orphans to train. That's how she got this far."

"Now that's not something all of us knew about District Two."

"Yup. I wouldn't be surprised if that monotonous facade hides a sadistic career stereotype in her."

"Let's now moveo on to District Three. Shall we?"

* * *

Cate Clause struggled wobbling to one of the bowls. She picked a slip from the bowl to read the name, "Our naughty boy this year is… Chip Tablet! Ho ho ho!"

There was a long pause. "Chip, please come to the stage and tell me why you're naughty. Ho ho ho!"

The peacekeepers proceeded to the thirteen-year-old section, where Chip was staring at a direction, thinking of something too deep. As the peacekeepers dragged him out, he realized that he had been reaped. He made a brave face while the peacekeepers were dragging him, but he just looked like he's trying to be cute with his size and face. He stood onstage trying to look fierce, but then his face eventually faded back into something expressionless. He pushed his broken eyeglasses up to fix its position.

On the other side of the stage, Cate finally grabbed a slip of paper from the top of the pile.

"Our naughty girl this year is… _Tee_ -ra? _Tai_ -ra? … Hyde. Ho ho ho!"

The sixteen-year-old girl walked to the stage by herself, shocked from the result of this year's reapings. She made her way up onstage. She wanted to pity her district partner yet also wanting to communicate with him at the same time.

"District Three, your tributes for this year's hunger games. Ho ho ho!"

Cate made both of them shake hands. "I wish you will all have a very merry Christmas someday! Ho ho ho ho!"

* * *

"Is District Three going to surprise us with a fourth win in the dacade?" asks Isis rhetorically.

"That would depend on their abilities, and luck with the arena."

"Let's talk about the girl first. She seems to be very small for her age."

"It's delayed puberty."

"Oh. That's not something you always hear."

"She is an electrician by the way, and her family is one of those rare pro-Capitol families outside career districts."

"Interesting."

"She is known to be a very friendly and extroverted person in her community. She has perseverance and determination too, a quality common among District Three citizens."

"Not bad! I'd say she could have a chance to win for District Three. What do you think?"

"I'd say it depends on the arena."

"Now to Chip. He seems really quiet."

"Rumor is that he is autistic, but he was never really diagnosed with it, since he always stays inside the programming factory twenty-four-seven.

"Whoa! What about his family?"

"His family left him and his twin brother at the programming factory at a very young age. They might not even remember having a proper family."

"Do you know more about this programming factory?"

"It's like a career academy in career districts. The programming factory produces well-trained programmers for the district and its industry."

"Why didn't I know that? I find it cool to be honest. Anything else about Chip besides his cute and silent facade that we saw?"

"Like any District Three citizen, he is persevering and determined. He usually works overtime at the factory, never giving up with any task at hand. If you noticed earlier, he was also stuck in his world of algorithms, thinking broad and deep into it."

"Speaking of earlier, did you notice Tira using her friendly attitude to get Chip's attention?"

"Ah yes. It is normal for district partners to be allies, even in a stereotypically introverted district like Three. Although, there have been several times too wherein both district partners do not like each other. If you remember Lorenzo, or Renz, from Three six years ago, he killed his district partner mercilessly on the final showdown."

"Three has been in the spotlight this decade."

"I know. Later on, we'll have another example of district partners not liking each other."

"Oh alright. It's time to check out District Four now."

* * *

Ezairlayne Aquaffee said, "Let us all welcome Mister Tommy Rotterdam and Miss Delta Delta!"

The two mentors made their way onstage from opposing ends.

"As we all know, District Four's mentors got to select and talk to their tributes at least a day before the reapings. Isn't that correct? Let us see what we have then. Let's start with you Miss Delta."

Ezairlayne gave Delta the mic, and the latter said, "May I now call on Jeanne Maxima."

She moved out of the eighteen-year-old section and fancily made her way onstage.

"District Four, Jeanne Maxima!" Ezairlayne announced while the audience applauded. "Let us now go to Mister Rotterdam."

Ezairlayne gave Tommy the mic. "Hi, good morning everyone. Unfortunately, I have received bad news that Oliver Tabora has checked in at the hospital yesterday due to typhoid fever."

Ezairlayne got the mic back from Tommy. "Ooh! In a case like this, we shall bring out the reaping bowls, or at least the male reaping bowl."

With that announcement from the escort, the male reaping bowl was brought to the stage.

"I shall now pick a slip from the bowl." It took her a while to dig for a good slip. "Aha!" She takes it out, opens it, and reads it. "Our male tribute for District Four… is Yoshi Takorosu!"

Yoshi got to the stage with a smile, even after bumping into a peacekeeper.

"Any volunteers for Yoshi?"

"I volunteer!"

The sound came from the seventeen-year-old section. He eventually reached the stage and Ezairlayne approached him calmly.

"Well darling, can you introduce yourself to us?"

"My name… my name is Horden Tanase."

"Interesting! Can you tell us more about yourself?"

"Uh… I am a ship janitor. Someday, I wish to be the captain of my own ship."

"How wonderful! I love your ambition, child."

Horden smiled a bit, then continued, "I also want a better life for my family, my friends, and myself."

"Is that the reason why you volunteered?"

Horden nodded in response.

"Wonderful! I believe you will represent us well in place of… Oliver, was it? Yes, Oliver. District Four, your tributes for the one hundred and fortieth hunger games!"

Horden and Jeanne shook hands with each other, but she looked away from him while doing so.

* * *

"We've gotten so used to tributes volunteering from career districts, that we don't really mind their unique way of selecting tributes. Even Ace had a forced volunteering method as we saw earlier."

"Yeah. Ezairlayne has been escorting the district long enough to be doing this method of selecting tributes. Do you remember the last time she used the reaping bowl hidden backstage?"

"I'm not sure. Was it during the Hundred Thirty-fifth?"

"Yeah it was. That was the year with the oceanesque arena."

"Oh! Okay, okay. Let's start with our unselected volunteer first. Horden seems okay. He's doing this for his family, which I find really sweet. I don't think this is the first tike we've had such a kind of tribute."

"You're correct. From time to time, we get volunteers from any district saying that they are doing this to help their family. About ninety percent of them make it far into the games but don't win."

"Ooh! Horden seems okay though. Can you tell us more?"

"He is known to be a rulebreaker. He is a very loyal person too, from his girlfriend to his family."

"I found the desire to be a ship captain really cool. What do you think?"

"He's currently working at the harbor, cleaning ships. He did say he was a janitor after all, but working by the pier is a step closer to becoming a ship captain. Well, not really. Volunteering is, and only if he wins will he be able get there."

"We shall learn more of his performance later. Now to Jeanne. Is it just me, or does she have an aura of sassiness?"

"She is rich and spoiled because her grandfather monopolizes the pearl industry. She looks down on people who look less than her expectations, and she is jealous of people who has more than what she has."

"I see."

"Her treatment to family and friends are different though. She treats them with politeness and generosity."

"Well that's interesting."

"Her family has a reputation of owning so many lands in District Four. Lands aren't extremely popular in the district, but that's still having something that other people in the district do not have. She doesn't live by the sea after all."

"Whoa! But she can swim?"

"I think so. One skill she's been hiding to her fellow trainees is her archery skills. Her mom is good at it, so she home-trained archery and focused on other weapons while training with friends."

"That's a very good strategy. I guess that's the end of the career districts. Let us now move on to the richest district not hosting career academies, District 5."

* * *

Vivianelli Vanillanillan, or Vi for short, placed her big hand on the bowl full of pink papers. She managed to grab many slips out, but only one remained in her hand as she dropped the rest on the floor purposefully.

"Ciara Graceanne Westley."

The girl from the fifteen-year-old section reacted with a loud gasp. She walked to the stage angrily, thumping loudly on every step.

As Ciara made it to the stage, Vi was already on the other side spilling slips of paper from the bowl to reap the boy's name.

"Filament Harmon-Fierro."

The boy named Filament let go of his friends' hands then walked to the stage. He sobbed softly as he made it onstage.

Two voices screamed desperately:

"FILLY!"

"FILAMENT!"

Vi announced, "District 5, your lovely and loving tributes this year!"

* * *

"Mad and sad. That's the initial reaction we can get from District Five."

Morty flips some pages back and forth, then comments, "Well, if you ask me, Chip Tablet of Three has a better chance of getting sponsors than these two based on their reactions from being reaped."

"Ciara definitely looked upset."

"Yes she was. She is a popular girl in school, so she will be losing more than any tribute would if she does not come back."

"Why? What is her life back in Five?"

"Let's start with her family - She has a big one! The whole family is an orchestra too in itself. It may be easy to say that losing a saxophone player is nothing, but we're not in her family's shoes. She's multi-talented; She can sing, play the saxophone, score high grades, and be athletic. In fact, one of her hobbies is rock climbing while she represents her school's track team."

"She's one busy girl!"

"Exactly. The thing now is that her popularity has reached the Capitol, and she just received a scholarship."

"No way!"

"Unfortunately, it's a bad time for her to get a scholarship at this time, since it is hunger games season."

"Oh well. If she's multi-talented though, that means she has the potentisl to do well. Am I right?"

"Yes she has, but that anger of hers won't be a nice reputation to keep around. There were several researches about sponsoring in the hunger games, and someone crying has a better chance of getting sponsored than someone who was mad during the reapings. She can make up for it though."

"So you're saying sponsors are likely to lean towards Filament than to Ciara?"

"Yes."

"What is Filament's home life though?"

"They say he's a teddy bear. He loves hugging people."

"I should get a hug from him when I interview him." Isis faces the audience, then some of them laugh at that comment.

"He is also popular like Ciara, but not by talent. He loves to share his love to others, making them happy, giving them hugs, buying them gifts. He's such a sweet kid overall."

"Now I feel bad for him. He should not have been reaped."

"He's gay by the way, but he spreads his love in such a platonic manner." Morty flips a page and skims through the document. "He was adopted by two gay men, and is the youngest of five non-biological children."

"That's so cool for a family!"

"I agree. His family is not one suffering in slums. His hobbies include mathematics, socializing, and writing letters to a certain friend."

"Where did you get so much info?"

"I'm the analyst in my team. I know what I'm doing." He smiles as he fixes his glasses.

"Okay then, as you say so. Now it's time to watch District Six's reapings."

* * *

May Puddington attempted to reach the top of the bowl, as she's too short to reach a slip out.

"Hey! Help me."

People there laughed, especially the mentor. At one point, a peacekeeper came to the stage to carry May to the bowl.

"Thank you." She picked up a pink slip and read the name. "Kylie Ford. Come out, come out!"

The girl from the sixteen-year-old section hugged the girl beside her. Kylie tried to look confident, but she made it to the stage looking afraid, yet she still tried to be brave and confident. May was already on the other side of the stage trying to reach the other bowl.

"UGH! WHY!?" The crowd laughed again, and another peacekeeper assisted her with picking a name from the bowl. "Thank you." She opened the slip of paper to read the name, "Chris Jeep. Come out!"

A scream from his girlfriend was followed by a hysterical reaction, "CHRIS! NO!"

The person beside Chris then announced, "I volunteer as tribute!" Many different reactions could be heard from the crowd as the volunteer made his way onstage.

"A volunteer!" the escort said with her naturally squeaky voice. "How exciting!"

"I am excited!" replied Thomas, and May's face expression changed into a confused one. The crowd reacted more until May shouted, "Silence!"

May approached him and asked, "Why did you volunteer?" May struggled giving Thomas the mic with her height, but he simply announced with his loud voice, "Today, I am volunteering for the hunger games, because my life is nearing the end." He pointed at the large black moles on his arms and body. "I was diagnosed with melanoma when I was fourteen, and I want to have some fun in the last moments of my life, instead of just rotting inside the community home. I also want to learn what is outside District Six, because there are so many things we have all been hidden from. Has anyone ever wondered what is outside Panem? What if there's a world better for everyone to live in? What if the stars you see in the sky are other worlds waiting to be explored? What if…"

"That's enough!" May sassily said through the mic. "We have our tributes, District Six, and I hope not to see you next year!"

"Mayonnaise, why?"

"Shut up, Royce! You only got a one at your private training!"

"But why am I here mentoring other children now?"

May was not able to respond to that, and the crowd reacted, clapped, and cheered. Royce bowed to the audience, and May walked out of the stage grumpily.

* * *

"Wow! That's one short escort." Isis scratches her chin.

"She wanted a higher paying job, but higher paying jobs usually come with more sacrifices."

"True. How about Royce? The crowd seems to love him out-sassing May."

"You never had youngest non-quell victor Robert Royce in your show?"

"Nope."

"Well, you should have him in your show from time to time. He'll tell you more of his life."

"Alright. I'll start with Thomas first. He volunteered for a good reason."

"I believe so too."

"Actually, does anybody know what's outside Panem?"

"I'm not sure. We're surrounded with so much water that can lead us to our deaths."

"Possibly, but how about the connecting lands?"

"There are too many barriers. Other non-human species might be threatening us."

"Probably. Nobody knows what's out there, but if there were people who knew, they never returned to tell us their tales. Anyway, going back to Thomas, he seems not only curious and philosophical, but also brave."

"He is more daring and reckless though, and daring tributes tend to give us a better show in the games."

"Hopefully he can give us that."

"A lot of people visited him for goodbyes and farewells, since he is known to have a fun and friendly aura. They're mostly people from the community home though."

"Oh! Is he there because of his cancer?"

"Nope. He's there because he was orphaned due to her parents dying after getting sick."

"Well, I believe Thomas has potential for loads of sponsors."

"I believe so too."

"Kylie is also orphaned?"

"Yes, but she doesn't live with Thomas. She lives in the streets."

"Why?"

"Because she didn't want to be with Thomas for some reason. The two seem to know each other, but Kylie is the shy one who rejects Thomas's friendliest offers."

"That's interesting."

"They were supposed to move from the old orphanage, and to the community home. Thomas moved, Kylie started a part of her life on her own. Well not really, since he lives with the Chris guy earlier and his girlfriend."

"Ah, so they know each other."

"Yes, but she's too shy, so she's like the third wheel of the triad."

"Oh."

"To Seven now?"

"Yes, to Seven."

* * *

Jim Jam picked up a pink slip from the bowl. He opened the slip of paper and read the name out loud, "Agatha Wood."

A girl from the sixteen-year-old section sighed aloud and walked to the stage. As Agatha reached the last step of the stairs to the stage, a seventeen-year-old girl yelled, "I volunteer!"

People reacted violently, and her parents were both in shock.

Jim greeted her, "What is your name?"

"Susie," she replied nervously. "Susie Ye."

"Can you tell us why you volunteered for the games?" asked Jim.

Susie stammered, "I… I…" She nervously got her focus back, "I… I can't say it."

"Wow!" reacted Jim. "We'll get back to her next time! Right now, we still need a male tribute from your district."

Jim went to the other side of the stage to reap the male tribute of the district. He read, "Orion Fleming."

From the fifteen-year-old section, the boy made his way onstage, looking solemn and serious.

He made it to the stage, where Jim asked him, "How are you?"

"Fine!" said Orion sarcastically. "I'm absolutely fine that I'll be dying in the Hunger Games. Woohoo!"

"Well folks, here are your tributes for District 7!" Jim then let Susie and Orion shake hands.

* * *

"Susie is very mysterious."

Morty replies, "She is schizophrenic. It's probably suicide."

"What if the voice in her head told her to volunteer?"

"Also possible. Maybe that's why she killed her sister."

"What, why!?"

"She killed her sister and made it look like her sister killed herself."

"Whoa! How is she as a person?"

"She's shy, quiet, and reserved."

"Oh okay." Isis scratches her head. "Is Orion sarcastic for real?"

"Yeah, some find him funny for it, while others find him annoying as hell."

"Why is it?"

"He is goofy and mischievous and loves to play pranks on others."

"He sounds like a fun guy."

"He'll probably tell you he's a mushroom."

"Oh. Oh! So he's that funny slash annoying?"

"Yes, haha. That's not me though. I'm just trying to interpret his personality."

"Okay okay, haha."

"He's playful too, so we don't really know if he takes anything in life seriously."

"I guess we'll see when I get to interview him. That's about it for District Seven."

"To Eight?"

"To Eight we go!"

* * *

"Let's start with the gentlemen this time," Vamp Polyhaima announced. He slowly walked to the male reaping bowl while letting his cape sway up from time to time. He carefully picked up a slip from the middle of the bowl, and read the name aloud, "District Eight, we have… Ingeo Olefin! Mwahahahaha! What an unfamiliar name."

The boy from the fifteen-year-old section is shocked. His reaction of shock turned into sadness as tears slowly trickle down his face while the peacekeepers pulled him out. He had been making inaudible crying sounds ever since the peacekeepers dragged him onstage, but he strengthened up gradually.

"Up next," Vamp continued. "We have… Sandra Roastbelt. Mwahahahaha! Another unfamiliar name, eh?"

A twelve-year-old walked to the stage shakily.

"I volunteer!" reacted a girl from the eighteen-year-old section. She bravely made her way onstage, albeit shaking as she was walking.

Vamp asked, "What is this female volunteer's name?"

"L-L-Lainey Sash."

"And why did you volunteer?"

"B-Bec-Because, I think it is the right thing to do."

"Hold on a moment, aren't you the girl I picked from this bowl during the Hundred Thirty-Fourth?"

"Yes, yes I am." Lainey said it with some shaky nodding.

"Well, well, well! You look… much more fantastic than you were as a frightened twelve-year-old. Mwahaha! You must've prepared eh?"

"Yes, yes I did."

"Wow! Time quickly changes a little and innocent child's figure into what seems to be… our next victor. What do you think?"

Lainey was thinking before saying, "I can always try. I have prepared myself this time."

"Well, a second chance came for this lucky young lady. Let us give her a round of applause! Mwahaha!"

A few people gave her a round of applause.

"District Eight, our tributes for the One Hundred and Fortieth Annual Hunger Games, Ingeo Olefin and Lainey Sash!" The escort announced it while he was raising a hand from each of them. He then told them to shake hands.

* * *

"Another volunteer!?" Isis reacts.

"Don't worry, there will be more later."

"Okay then. It's obvious that Lainey was nervous with the process, but she volunteered to give back, right?"

"Yup, she volunteered for the twelve-year-old because she was reaped at that age. She appreciated life ever since after that, but she also prepared for a scenario like this, which happened, which is why she's participating now."

"Oh wow! I find it amazing if you ask me. What happened to the one that volunteered for her though?"

"That was Renz Delcroix's year. She was lucky she didn't die in the hands of merciless Renz, but the train she was on caught fire, so she and her ally were trapped."

"Ow... that's sad. I hope Lainey wins! She's one of my favorites so far."

"According to my document, she is a kind and sweet ambivert with great ideas and a determined attitude."

"Now that's nice to hear."

"Just hope that her naivety and stupid mistakes don't cost her these games."

"Oh, alright. Ingeo, uh... he didn't stand out very much."

"He has a very pessimistic outlook in life. In fact, he has a defeatist attitude. He's smart though, somewhat, about above average probably."

"Oh okay. Anything with his family that could at least make him stand out?"

"He appreciates his parents so much that he makes the effort to give back to them."

"Awww... how sweet! Anything else?"

"I think you can get more when you interview him in the next few days."

"Oh right! I can't wait to meet all the tributes. Last year was my first time, and it was fun."

"I hope you'll enjoy your second year doing this."

"Oh yes! I believe I will. Shall we go to the ninth district?"

"Let's roll it in!"

* * *

"Let us begin!" Neomett Elphyz said with the mic in a robotic tone that echoes. "Our female tribute this year is Macy Roe!"

A girl walked out of the twelve-year-old section. She looked up to see the escort waiting for her to come up. Tears started falling on her face, and she sniffed sadly as she made it to the stage. She looked at the many rows of girls with her teary eyes.

The escort finally moved to the other side of the stage to reap the boy's name out. He read aloud with his echoing robotic voice, "Jesse…"

"I volunteer!" an eighteen-year-old announced aloud.

"What!?" someone reacted in a surprised manner.

"What?" said the volunteer confidently. He kept his back straight, chest out, and chin up as he made his way to the stage with nobility.

"A volunteer!" Neomett said echoingly and robotically. "Can you please tell us your name, and why you volunteered?"

"I go by the name Dorian Belcorn."

People reacted upon hearing the last name.

"And I volunteered because I want to go to the Capitol to investigate on my grandfather's death, Cesare Belcorn."

"Cesare Belcorn!?" Neomett reacted. "I didn't even know he is already dead!"

There were too many reactions from the crowd, but it eventually died down.

"District Nine, Macy Roe and Dorian Belcorn!" They both shook hands before being led to the Justice Building. Dorian looked to the crowd confidently, while Macy tried to smile with tears in her eyes.

* * *

"What!? Another volunteer again!?"

"There's one more after the next one," Morty says calmly.

"That twelve-year-old is adorable though. Is she as naive as she looks?"

"Yeah, she is. She is very true to herself and others, being super trusting, selfless, energetic, and friendly. You'll either find her adorable or annoying."

"That sounds so sweet! I'm excited to meet her. How about her home life?"

"She wants to have a pet, but her parents can't afford one."

"Awww..."

"She also idolizes her teachers."

"She's too good to hate! Bring her here now!" Isis laughs after that statement of excitement.

"Two of her fears are blood and fire."

"Ooh! That's gonna be hard for her, but let's now go forth to Mister Belcorn. His grandpa dying on the way back to District Nine was big news here in the Capitol. I'm surprised he never knew."

"Yeah, but unfortunately, his parents never told him about his grandfather, so he's here for revenge, to find out what happened to his grandfather."

"Can you tell us his relationship to his grandfather?"

"His grandfather was his idol. He looked up to grandfather as a role model, a teacher. He taught Dorian how to be a gentleman. After all, the Belcorns are of Capitolite descent. They're super rich, and they own so many factories back in Nine. In fact, he has a house of his own back in Nine."

"Oh wow! Personality-wise, how is Dorian?"

Morty flips a page, and skims it quickly. "He is intelligent, strategic, and manipulative. He is too focused on revenge, and that might blind him."

"Would it be a good idea to tell him about his grandfather's death? It's so pathetic to find out that he was completely unaware of it."

"That is up to you," replies Morty with a smile and a nod.

Isis nods in return. "Okay, last three districts. To Ten we go!"

* * *

Leilah Yat walked to the girls' reaping bowl in a fast and serious manner, while mentor and youngest victor Kylene Roa helped her in reading the name. The latter seemed anxious onstage. Not long after, Leilah held the sheet of paper with the name of the reaped girl's name. It was gripped between her middle finger and index finger.

Kylene read, "Our female tribute this year could be - Arlenna Winnie Scott. Please don't be afraid." Not long after, a tall thirteen-year-old with really long hair walked to the stage.

She nervously made her way onstage, trying to blink away tears. Leilah randomly picked a slip from the boys' bowl and walked fast to the center of the stage. Kylene assisted her with the speaking once again.

"Our male tribute this year could be - Kobe Bridger. Please don't…"

"Fuck you!" Kobe yelled angrily.

The boy from the thirteen-year-old section mumbled inaudible words while stomping angrily to the stage. He pointed at the escort, but Kylene reacted as if he was pointing to her.

"A BIG FUCK YOU FOR PICKING ME!" Kobe shouts while flashing his middle finger to her. "THANK YOU SO MUCH!"

Kobe and Leilah were on a glaring contest from there. Kylene tried running away from the scene, but she tripped in the process. Her fellow mentor Abraham Braunock helped out Kylene, and they moved away from the scene.

"FUCK YOU! I HATE YOU! I HAAATE YOOOUUU SO MUCH! I WISH YOU - MMMMM!" One of the peacekeepers covered Kobe's mouth before anything else worse came out from it. Kylene nervously moved to the mic.

"D-district Ten, l-let us s-s-support our t-tributes this year, n-n-n-no matter wh-what!" Kylene stammered anxiously, followed by an attempt to smile.

* * *

"Kobe is gonna be in trouble." Isis shakes his head.

Morty adds, "As we discussed earlier, tributes who show up mad on the reapings usually get fewer sponsors. Ciara can make up for her lowkey attitude, but Kobe will have to flip to the sunny side up to fix his."

"What info do you have about Kobe?"

"Let's see... He is very stubborn and opinionated, and he gets into fights with boys a few years older than he is."

"Whoa! He's tough eh?"

"Be cautious when interviewing him. He hates careers, privileged people, and the Capitol."

"Oh my glob! How are we supposed to deal with him?

"Well, we had naughty tributes in the past, but I think he is the naughtiest yet."

"Oh boy."

"He is the eldest of three children, so he has to take care of his younger sisters since his parents are at work most of the time. He's taken a lot of tesserae too."

"Anything positive about him?"

"He's quite philosophical, although his points tend to border offensive sometimes. He's also great with debates, but these debates are..."

"Okay. I think I get it. Hahaha! Let's move on before we let Kobe lose some more sponsors."

"Arlenna is very similar to Ciara."

"Why would you say so?"

"Because they both excel in school, academically and on track."

"So she's runner too, huh."

"You're correct. She is somewhat more fortunate than Kobe, since Kobe works for Arlenna's parents at the cattle ranch."

"Oh, so they know each other."

"They do, but they don't get along. Remember, Kobe hates privileged people."

"Oh right."

"She actually likes sewing, and she's the loyal, analytical, and introverted type of friend."

"Can you give me a difference between her and Ciara?"

"Arlenna has low self-esteem, whereas Ciara has a better self-esteem. Also, Ciara tends to be sneaky and cunning, while Arlenna is very loyal."

"Now that's interesting. I think they'll get along very well."

"I think so too, but Ciara can be aggressive and competitive at times. She doesn't like losing."

"Ooh! So we have a dominant Type-A Ciara and a more lax and loyal Type-B Arlenna."

"I guess that's how you can put it."

"Great! I'd love to see them as allies if you ask me. Now to the agricultural district of Eleven."

* * *

"Oh I hope I don't burn any of these slips, but in District 11, everything is HOT, HOT, HOT!"

Former circus performer Calient Racha-Basco touched the bowl, and then everything there was on fire, or at least that's what it looked like. He picked a slip then, "AHA! Our hottest guy for the year is… Layle Adriano!"

The blind boy tried to make his way onstage, but he had too much trouble doing so alone.

"I volunteer!"

A lot of people reacted out of shock. Tears trickled down his scared face. He moved in a panicky manner, visibly shaking on every step.

"Can you introduce yourself to us?"

"My name is Owen Lee Bai."

"You volunteered for Mister Adriano."

"He is blind," he said in a sympathetic manner. He let some tears fall before saying, "He will not stand a chance in these games. At the same time," he paused a bit and sniffed, "I want to help my sister live off somewhere away from poverty, so that she won't have to worry about us anymore."

"Thank you sir. Now let us move to the girls!"

Calient walked to the other side of the stage, but before he dipped his hand into the bowl, it burned out of nowhere. "Ooh! Now that's what I call HOT, HOT, HOT!"

He pretended that it was actual fire and dipped his hand carefully into the bowl. He picked a pink slip and shook off the faux fire that was on it. He then announced, "Our hottest girl of the year is… Poppy Sennett!"

"NOOOOO!" a male shouted.

She stood emotionlessly on the fifteen-year-old section. Her friend gave her a sorrowful hug, and the peacekeepers repelled them eventually, taking away the girl whose name was just called.

By the time she was at the base of the staircase to the stage, she rapidly made her way up alone. She looked at the crowd and cameras blankly.

"Poppy?" The escort waved his fiery hand in front of her face. "Well, without any further ado, let us congratulate our tributes and wish them good luck! May the odds be ever in our favor, District Eleven!" He then let both tributes shake hands.

* * *

"This is getting so repetitive, but we have another volunteer!?"

"I can promise you that this is the last one we have."

"Alrighty then. Owen seems like a nice kid, volunteering for his blind friend. That was his friend, right?"

"Yup. He looks nice from the get-go, but he is actually mischievous and manipulative. In fact, you can see that he was trying to get sympathy from the audience, but it wasn't obvious was it?"

"I... uh... hmmm... No, nothing was obvious. So you're trying to say that his act of volunteering was not out of kindness."

"Nope. It was revenge. Revenge to satisfy his dark past."

"Why, what happened?"

Morty flips the page, then says, "His parents died in a farming accident, and his twin brother died after being shot dead by a peacekeeper."

"Ouch."

"It was actually his dark past that triggered his manipulative attitude, and I wonder how he will apply this in the games."

"Interesting. His district partner seems too childlike for someone her age, and if I'm not mistaken, Poppy is older than Owen. Is that right?"

"Yes, that is not incorrect. She is overprotected by his family, especially by his big brother, who is only three years older than she is. Her parents are gardeners, and Poppy helps them out."

"Awww... isn't that sweet?"

"It sure is. She is raised to be kind, polite, good-natured, and warm-hearted. She is also organized and adventurous."

"That's nice. Now for the last reaping recap!"

* * *

Evezleya von Evezelle went to the girl's reaping bowl first and quickly drew out a name.

"Drum roll!" she said. It came as she requested. "District Twelve's female tribute is…"

She looked at the crowd's anxious faces, then the scene jumped to her announcing, "Corinna Pickett!"

The girl from the fifteen-year-old section was awestruck. She tried to smile brightly and remained optimistic while trying to be as confident as she could be. She stumbled to the stage slightly, but she tried to keep up a smile as hard as she could.

"I know this is a sensitive question, so you don't have to answer it. How are you feeling now?"

"I'm surprised," she said while still holding on to her smile.

"Now for the boys!" She picked a blue slip from the bottom of the bowl. "Aha! Drum roll, please!"

The drum rolled as requested.

"District 12 will be represented by Corinna Pickett and…"

Again, video editors cut the scene short to keep things quick.

"Dante Blackwell!"

The boy took a deep breath as he moved from the fourteen-year-old section. He was looking down as he walked silently to the stage.

"Same rules apply. How are you feeling now?"

He looked up shortly to shake his head in reply.

"District Twelve, let us support our tributes in this year's hunger games! Let us wish our tributes good luck, hoping that one of them will make it home."

Silence filled the area, then Corinna optimistically said, "Yeah!"

"That's the spirit!" Evezleya let the two tributes shake hands. "Once again, I am Evezleya von Evezelle, your escort for the third time, District Twelve!"

* * *

Isis says with inspiration, "Evezleya was probably one of the best masters of ceremonies back in the day. She probably would make a good host for any show."

"She was only a sub escort."

"I know! I had to fill her in for this role." Isis pauses a bit and realizes that she went off-topic. "But this show is not about wonderful Evezleya. This show is about the tributes like Corinna and Dante. I actually like Corinna's positive attitude. She's gonna get loads of sponsors for that impression she's giving."

"It's true. Tributes who show a rather positive reaction towards being reaped usually catch the sponsors' attentions. They are known to be braver than most."

"Can you tell us more about Corinna?"

"Corinna is really optimistic from the get-go. Her sociable skills easily get her more friends than an average person. Her curiosity and taste for adventurous came from her love for nature."

"That's nice."

"Her love for nature usually goes to her eating organic food every meal, when her family can get them."

"Well, her odds seem to have risen this early. How about Dante? His head-shaking is not good."

"It is indeed not good, but it's more of his head being down for almost the whole time. He's very introverted, wanting to be invisible almost all the time."

"He has to have a positive attitude though?"

"He is observant, as a result of his silent nature."

"How about his home life?"

"He hunts with a close friend named Jasmine, because their families can't afford better food for the whole family. Their moms died during the flu of Twelve some years ago."

"Ah. Well, that's all it seems?"

"Yes."

"Well then, thank you for tuning in with us today! As you all know, tributes don't get to see our analyses on them. They'll only be shown the compilation of different reapings recapped. Once again, I'd like to thank our special guest, analyst, and gamemaker Morty! Stay tuned for more on this year's hunger games."

The audience applauds. Isis and Morty bow before exiting the stage.

* * *

AN:

1\. I forgot to mention last chapter that Belvedere Spiros is CelticGames4's stylist; Belle, Sophia, Valerie Tristen are AmericanPi's; Latisha Morwan, Marjorita Tisho, and Totochan Lierro are SilverflowerxRavenpaw's; and Anakyn Skyavich is ShunKazamis-Girl's. Thank you for the stylist submissions! It is still open, so submit now if you want. :D

2\. Although it might not matter since not a lot are participating, but if ever you are, I'm lowering the 100-sponsor-points challenge to just 18 tributes at minimum instead of 20.

3\. This is a chapter to summarize the tributes' backgrounds and personalities. I will describe each tribute's appearance on another chapter.

4\. This chapter is not edited nor proofread as a trial. Feedback on this chapter is appreciated, so I'll know whether proofreading is a must or not.

5\. First 4 train rides are on the next chapter. Any suggestions on which districts I should write first?

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)


	20. Train Rides A: Conflicting Beginnings

AN: Don't forget to vote on the poll if you haven't. This chapter is about the train rides of Districts 7, 8, 9, and 10. Enjoy! :)

* * *

 _"I'd tell you to kill Woodrow for me, but I'm not gonna give you that much attention yet. Mwehehe!"_ Kevin, the voice inside Susie's head, starts to torment her again.

Susie shudders slightly. She never wanted to kill anybody. She turns her head to a different direction to see Orion already recovering from the effect of being reaped. He waves to her, but she looks away.

 _"Don't be shy, girl. Don't worry, we won't kill him now. Mwehehe!"_

Susie gets up and is about to move to another train car, but before she reaches the door, a lady with round eyeglasses, black hair tied to a bun, and an average height opens the door from the other side.

"You must be Susie, yeah?" she asks.

Orion then says, "You mean she must be Susie, Ye?"

The lady didn't get the joke, but Susie nods her head. Kevin makes another threat soon after. _"If you speak a word to your mentor while on this train, she'll be dead in a day or two."_ She shudders a bit again, out of fear.

"Why, what's the matter?"

Susie shakes her head.

"Can I... talk to you for a second?"

Susie stares blankly into the lady's face, then she shakes her head again.

"Um... alrighty then."

Susie makes her way to the next car, but the lady decides to interact with Orion.

"You must be Orion?"

"Oh righ- on."

She pauses a bit. "Okay. Oh righ-! I see." She squints her eyes to him and Orion widens his grin. "By default, I'm supposed to be Susie's mentor, but I guess there's no strict ruling about switching tributes or mentoring both at the same time. I'm guessing your district partner wants to train alone?"

"Ye."

She squints her eyes again, then tilts her head slowly. "I see now. I'm History by the way, victor of the 117th hunger games."

"I think I've introduced myself?" Orion widens his grin slowly.

"Oh righ- on." She squints again, and they both nod slowly to each other, with Orion's grin widening even more. "So tell me, with what you're showing me right now, do you think you can get yourself enough sponsors?"

Orion thinks, then says, "We'll see."

"Okay. Before I give you any advice, tell me your strategy. What do you plan to do from training until the bloodbath?"

He thinks again and scratches his head. "I will try to find... a few allies."

"I guess that's not bad. What skills do you have, may I guess?"

"Feel free to."

"You've worked with an axe."

"That's an axe-ceptable answer."

History squints her eyes once more. She tilts her head, then tilts it back straight, nodding afterwards. The pattern has been very apparent.

"Interesting. What do you plan to do come training?"

"Hmmm... I honestly don't know."

"Perfect! Time for me to give an advice or two."

"Work on the axe skills to make axe kills?"

"Hehe, no. My advice is to go for survival stations. Do you know how to make fire?"

Orion thinks, then shakes his head.

"Its importance depends on the arena. Back in my day, the gamemakers froze the arena for a few days, calling it the winter season."

"What was your arena?"

"It was based on a place called Europe, from some history books."

"You make History books?"

"No silly!" She chuckles a bit. "There used to be a continent known as Europe, and they have so many famous monuments, culture, cities with bright lights. It was a smaller replica of the said land."

"How did you win your games?"

History thinks for a while. She won the 117th games, and that was decades ago. "I remember killing two careers, but I'm very certain I did not use an axe."

"You're from Seven! That's un-axe-ceptable."

She squints once again. "I was raised with history books, not with axes."

"Then what weapon did you use?" Orion shifts to a tone of curiosity.

"That I can't remember, but I remember using knot-tying skills to kill one of them."

"How?"

"That's up to you to figure out." History smiles with confidence. From here, Orion figures out that it's probably another training station to consider visiting. Meanwhile, History realizes her fellow mentor's absence.

"The food will probably be coming in a while, so stay here. I'll look for your mentor."

"You should probably just men-tour me around the train."

History squints, then nods her head. She then leaves the car to look for her fellow mentor. On the other side of the train, Susie is sleeping on the couch. She is too tired and stressed from Kevin. A man enters the car to look for his bottle of alcohol. He locks the door from the car he came from, and he opens a bottle of beer. Susie wakes up to see the guy drinking. He suddenly stops as he notices Susie.

"Shouldn't you be training with your mentor?"

 _"You're gonna get good food for lunch, but you gotta lie to him."_ Susie shudders again, but then replies, "Um... shouldn't you be training me?"

He pauses to think. "Fair enough. Woodrow." He reaches out his hand for a shake.

 _"Okay, don't lie about your name."_ Susie gulps, before reaching out her hand and saying, "Susie."

They shake hands.

Woodrow gulps an amount of beer. "Advice number one, be careful with what you eat. If it looks good, like suspiciously good, you should never eat it." Woodrow's games was on a forest filled with colorful fruits, so it was natural for him to say something like that. "My district partner got herself poisoned by a blue apple berry fruit thingy."

"I'm sorry," she mutters.

"Advice number two, know when to kill and when not to kill."

Susie shakes inside with the thought of her sister. Kevin says, _"Oh come on! She was a pest."_

"No she was not," she says softly.

"Huh?" reacts Woodrow.

Susie shakes her head.

"Okay. Advice number three, never do anything stupid." He drinks another good amount of beer.

 _"You're always stupid and worthless."_ A tear slowly rolls down her face.

Woodrow raises an eyebrow out of shock. "Should I keep going?"

 _"Lie to him. LIE!"_ Kevin's voice inside Susie has scared her. Susie nods in response to Woodrow's question as another tear slowly falls.

Woodrow tries to read her face expression. "Let's continue tonight, I guess. Where's History?"

Susie shakes her head, not pointing to any direction even though she knew where History was.

"Do you want her to mentor you, or do you want me to do it?"

Susie cries silently.

"Okay, okay." Woodrow starts panicking a little bit. "I'll give you some alone time."

Woodrow exits the car somewhat drunk. He tipsily lies down on the floor.

"Wood! How many times do I have to tell you to avoid beer on day one!?"

"I wanna rest."

"You always say that. Is the girl in there?"

"Yeah, we talked, but she's crying."

"Oh my gosh. Stay here."

As Woodrow is falling asleep on the floor, History sees Susie wide-eyed sitting on the couch, with some tears on her face.

"What happened!? Did he give you beer!?"

Susie shakes her head. _"Pssst... remember, don't speak a word to her."_ She then shudders again. History realizes that Susie might have a mental disorder, but she can't do anything about it especially if she doesn't know what it is exactly.

"Are you okay?"

 _"Don't you EVER reply to her!"_ Susie covers her face with the pillows on the soft brown couch.

"Uh... okay. Do you want me to mentor you?"

 _"Shake your head no."_ With the pillow still on her face, she shakes her head. Inside her, she is hesitant, but she did Kevin's command out of great fear.

"Okay. It seems like we'll be switching with Woodrow this year." She closes the door and goes back to her fellow mentor. "Wood!"

She finds Woodrow sleeping and drooling on the soft carpeted floor. This may just be the first day, but half of it spells disaster this early, at least for History. If there was anything better for her to do, it is to go back to Orion and endure listening to his jokes. She thinks of this and rolls her eyes in annoyance.

* * *

"Mwahahahahahaha!" Vamp cackles as he raises his cape with his two hands. A peacekeeper from outside closes the train door. He points to the two tributes and says, "You two are dead!"

"Vamp! Don't scare the children." The huge guy with a blonde beard and balding blonde hair has a deep voice to match his intimidating piercings and tattoos.

Ingeo and Lainey wait and watch for their escort and mentor to settle down as the train starts moving.

"I've known these two longer than you do. They know they're screwed." Vamp raises his eyebrow with this retort.

Ingeo agrees, but he stays silent.

"N-n-not me," Lainey disagrees nervously.

"That's the spirit, girl!" says a girl about her age.

"Are you my mentor?"

"Yes!" She takes her hand out of her sweater's pocket. "Karla, Karla Trappist."

"Oh now I remember! Lainey, Sash, Lainey Sash."

"How old are you?"

"Eighteen."

"Oh! I'm eighteen too, but who's older?"

As they discuss who among them is older, Ingeo turns to his mentor.

"Olaf, Olaf Rossburgh." He takes his hand out.

"Ingeo Olefin."

"Nice to meet you." They shake hands too. "I'll be mentoring you, while Karla will be mentoring your district partner. Sounds good?"

"Of course it sounds bad!" interferes Vamp sarcastically.

"Vik, now's not the time for this."

"You and your serious-ass antics." Vamp walks to a different car, probably to look for his favorite wine.

Back to Lainey and Karla, they figure out that Karla is less than a month older than Lainey.

"Birthmonth sisters!" says Karla.

"Yay!" Lainey adds.

"Girls, girls." Olaf calls for their attention. "We need to decide whether training will be done together or individually."

Lainey thinks her district partner might drag her down, but she does not want to say that she does not want to train with Ingeo while he's in the room.

"What do you think?" Karla asks.

While Ingeo is not decisive enough to give a suggestion, Lainey says, "Maybe we can try training alone first? If that doesn't work, then we can go to group training."

"I think that's good," Ingeo agrees.

Olaf says, "So it's settled. I'll move to the next car with Ingeo. It's up to you two if you wanna stay here or move forward."

"Yes sir!" Karla salutes. Not long after, Ingeo and Olaf move to another car. "Awesome! I wanna say we're gonna have fun, but I should be mentoring you."

Lainey doesn't say a thing, because she doesn't know what to say.

"I hate the games. They destroy everybody's childhood. Don't you think?" Karla waits for a reply, then says, "Oh wait. Why do you look so familiar?"

"You probably saw me around the district?"

"No no, it's something else. It's like we've met before?"

Lainey tilts her head slightly.

"Did I introduce myself as Karla or Karlasia?"

"Karla."

"Ooh. I'm pretty sure we've met before."

"Karlasia?"

"Yeah, it's like... sorry I wasn't listening to the reason why you volunteered. Can you repeat that?"

"Because someone named Paige volunteered for me six years ago when I was twelve."

"Ah yes! It was you! I was talking to you before the start of the ceremony."

"You were the happy and talkative and annoying girl?"

"Annoying!?" Karla reacts, then she accepts that fact. "Yes. You must be the shy one."

"More of - I'd like to be by myself."

"Oh. I didn't know we'd meet again. What did you do between the time you were reaped and now?"

"I trained, with kitchen knives."

"That's so cool! I wish I did that too for extra preparation."

"But you won."

"Yeah! Only by luck I'd say."

"Didn't you kill..."

"Uh-ah-ah! I'd rather not use that word."

"Oh, sorry."

"It's fine. Use 'poke' instead."

"Uh, okay." Lainey pauses a bit to collect her scattered thoughts. "Didn't you 'poke' the insane boy from Five?"

"Y-yes! Yes I did." Karla starts becoming nervous as she remembers her past. She gets her water bottle and drinks a bit.

"How many 'pokes' did you get?"

"I'd rather not recall them myself." She gulps some more water down to her system.

"Oh." Lainey's curiosity perks up due to her desire to win the games and return home. She wants to meet every mentor and ask for all of their stories, but she knows that's not possible. Still, she's trying to ask Karla for information that may help her later.

"You can watch my games if you want." Karla drinks a bit more. "But not now. You can do it tonight if you want. Let's talk about strategy first, shall we?"

"That's fine with me."

"Okay. First, tell me what your strengths and weaknesses are, then perhaps we can formulate something from that."

"People say I'm gullible and naive, because I'm too nice sometimes, but isn't being nice... a nice thing?"

"Hmmm... we'll settle that in a while. Anything else?"

"I am home-trained after what happened to me when I was twelve."

Karla nods. "That's understandable. Anything else notable?"

"Hmmm... I don't give up easily. Quit is banished from my vocabulary."

"That's the spirit, girl!" Karla raises up her fist. "Anymore?"

Lainey tries to think of some more.

Karla says, "I guess that's it for now. We have a chance to bring home a District Eight victor this year, and I'm excited!"

As they discuss what a good plan would be for the games, one thing Lainey doesn't notice about herself is that she is making stupid mistakes more often than not, and Karla can't help her about this since neither of them are aware of it. Meanwhile, Olaf and Ingeo formulates a plan.

"So the best thing for you to do is to find an ally or two, then focus on survival come training. Train with the weapon you'd like to try to help you in combats. If you have allies, follow them during the bloodbath. Else, grab a bag and go. Everything else depends what the arena is. Is everything good?"

Ingeo nods.

"Good! Now I'll go back to my point earlier: Come bloodbath, grab a bag and go sounds so easy isn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Well, it's all a ramble by bloodbath time, so grabbing a bag is easier said than done. Besides, some bloodbath twists recently have been very tricky."

Olaf talks about last year's bloodbath, wherein it was all dark and the gamemakers broke the laws of gravity. Then the year before that, Karla won. He explains how Karla was easily able to recover from the sudden and tense roller coaster ride to the cornucopia, but what got her lucky that year was the careers' all-in-one death, caused by two thirteen-year-olds. In the defense of most analysts, the careers didn't make a smart decision either, or at least the leader didn't, then everybody followed him. There was another year where the cornucopia was filled with zero weapons, all vehicles. Not everybody expected it, and not everybody knew how to drive. There were signs to the real cornucopia though, but not everybody got there successfully. In another year, the bloodbath started with four six-car trains coming from different directions, and each tribute was in a separate car. By the time the countdown reached zero, the trains would have arrived at the cornucopia.

"So you see, this is why we can't easily estimate how easy 'grabbing a bag and going' is."

Ingeo nods.

"Do you have any questions?"

"Can you talk about your games and how you won them?"

"Good thing I ain't Karla. That's a sensitive topic to her. Okay, so where should I start?"

"Uh... bloodbath?"

"Okay." He tries to recall his past, and what lessons he learned along the way. "The arena was based off a land back in time. It's called the Arabian Peninsula, if you've heard of it."

"I think I encountered the word 'Arabia' once."

"Oh okay. Well basically, it's a place with so much - hmmm... - have you heard of the religion of Islam or Muslim?"

"I've read about religions, but I don't know the specific ones."

"Ah, well... they have mosques and Qu'rans and all those stuff we don't usually see today. The arena was not just the Arabian Peninsula by the way. It extended a bit on every direction, so we got a bit of a replica of Jerusalem, something called Socotra, and a bit of Sahara Desert. Do you know any of these?"

Ingeo shakes his head.

"Well, just know that the place was very diverse and colorful, but temperatures rose really high during the day. My time still didn't have so much bloodbath twists, but I skipped the grabbing a bag part, and I instantly regretted it."

"Why?"

"I had nothing to eat that day. I was slowly dying of starvation when someone sent me food only on the third night."

"Were you able to get a weapon?"

"I messed with the careers' supplies, and I almost got killed."

"What happened?"

"On my hands that time was the weapon I'd been yearning for. It was a sword."

"You fought the career!?"

"Do or die, kid."

"And you won!?"

"No. I got away after giving the career a few wounds. It was the young and stupid boy from Two. He may be fifteen, but he's good! I was eighteen that time, and it was a bummer to be reaped."

"Did you meet him again?"

"No, but the sword I had had poison all over the metal, and I didn't know about it until the victory interview. His district partner polished the sword with some poisonous fruit."

"Then what happened?"

"He got sick, and his district partner killed him. If you're gonna ask me, being the career to watch over all the supplies is the worst role a career can ever have. Not only will the career not be able to hunt, but that career will get all the blame for anything wrong with their supplies."

"How did you win your games? Like, who did you have a duel with?"

"I believe it was the girl from Two. She kicked my sword to the water at the start. I had to rely on my environment to win."

"And how did you win?"

"She ran after me, and got me, but she didn't kill me right away, to give everyone a show. She used two daggers to pin my legs down."

"Ow..." Ingeo says softly.

"I got to punch her at one point, and - well, I got the chance to knock her out, because I didn't go down without a fight."

"And your legs?"

Olaf raises the right end of his pants to reveal a black prosthetic leg. "She got both of my legs, but my left was saved. From my games, I learned that it is important to never give up, no matter how hungry you are or how desperate your win can be. You'd rather go down fighting than go down giving up, am I right?"

Ingeo doesn't know how to answer it. Olaf has a point, but that's not his outlook in life is. Usually for Ingeo, it's better to just give up because there's really no hope for a better tomorrow.

"The reaping recaps should be on in a short while. Let's watch it."

"Okay."

With that, Olaf and Ingeo move to the train car with the television.

* * *

As Macy and Dorian enter the train, they meet each other's eyes and greet each other.

Macy wipes the tears in her eyes, "Hi there!" She then sniffs.

"Hello child," Dorian replies with his usual tone and accent. _Should I introduce myself first, or should I let her start? Meh, we know each other's names already._

She sniffs again, "Macy Roe." She lets her hand out.

"Dorian... Belcorn. Don't we know each other's names from the reaping?"

"Oh yeah. I forgot. You're a cool guy. I don't see people like you in my neighborhood."

 _Of course, I'm a Belcorn!_ Dorian thinks of a better retort, but he then thinks that there's no point to be rude to such a sweet girl. "Thanks? Thanks!"

"Lana, I told you our tributes are already on the train," says an aged female voice.

Two women, one young and one seasoned, enter the train.

"Hello," the older one greets in a friendly manner. "Alana and I will be preparing you two for the games. My name is Amaya by the way."

"I'm Macy!" At this point, she is back to her cheery self.

"Dorian... Belcorn."

"Ah, Belcorn!" Amaya rubs her chin.

The train alarm sounds, marking the departure of the train. Dorian helps the ladies close the train door, since there's not a peacekeeper outside to help them close the door.

"Thank you!" Amaya says. "Your grandfather must have taught you well. I'm sorry for your loss."

"Don't worry. I will get to the bottom of this matter."

"Lana, why don't you pick a tribute first?"

"Um... okay. I'll go for the little girl, I guess."

"Yay, little girl!" Macy sounds excited to be with Alana.

"That means you're with me, Mister Belcorn." Amaya rubs her chin again. "Are we all to have mentoring sessions together or not?"

"Together, together!" Macy says.

Dorian rolls his eyes. He doesn't really want to train with Macy, but he sees no harm in training together with her. After all, not is she only easy to manipulate for a first impression, but he knows she won't make it far into the games, or at least that's what he thinks.

"Fine, together we shall train."

"Yay!" says Macy, jumping up and down. "Mister Dorian and I are gonna be best friends for the whole games."

Dorian does another eye roll. He wonders how long he can tolerate her annoyance.

Amaya says, "That's great to hear, Macy. Where should we start our mentoring session? Ah! Let's move to the room with a table."

"Yay! Are we gonna eat?" Macy is still jumping up and down.

"We will, sweetie."

"Yay!"

Dorian rolls his eyes once more. _This is still fine, right? Somebody else could be worse than this kid._

As they all move to the room with a table, they see Neomett sitting on one of the chairs, watching some Capitol show. He switches the channels immediately, but decides to turn it off instead.

"I'm pretty sure you've met Mister Elphyz," Amaya says.

"Hi!" greets Macy with an energetic hand wave.

"Hello!" Neomett says robotically. He takes his phone out to mind his own business, zoning out from everyone else. Everybody takes a seat, with Dorian assisting everyone.

"What a gentleman!" Amaya exclaims. "I'm proud to be mentoring one."

"Mister Dorian is the best gentleman I've ever met!" Macy adds.

After Dorian takes a seat, the two mentors and two tributes look at each other.

"Looks like we're ready. Where do we start?"

Alana speaks, "The fact that it's been a very long time since we had a male tribute win."

"Oh yes, we are short with male victors. The last one was way way back before the Mockingjay Rebellion." Amaya rubs her chin again. "By the way, I'm just fifty-six years old. Do I look like sixty or something?"

"You're... getting close to that," Alana says.

"True, I must admit." She rubs her chin again. "I must say, some of our male tributes are remarkable. They only made a small mistake sometimes, and that pretty much sealed their fate. For some who had a chance, maybe they were just unlucky with the opponents they had to face."

"I agree," Alana says.

"And that is why we are long overdue for a male victor from Nine. Now what do we talk about?"

Alana pounds the table aloud with her fist. "Checking out the swimming pool at training!"

"Lana dear, how many times do I have to tell you that just because your arena is filled with water doesn't mean that everybody else's will be?"

Alana sighs. "I know."

"Alana here won her games on an arena filled with water."

Dorain asks, "Was that the year with tributes having rashguards for their attire?"

"Yes!" replies Amaya.

"Six days! The games finished in just six days!" Alana stands up. "That's how crazy my games were."

"Sit down Lana."

Alana sits down then says, "For a few weeks after the games, I swear I never wanted to see any open water. At least Amaya got a dress for her arena outfit."

"Running in high heels or bare foot was not easy. I'm glad I got the bag with rubber shoes during the bloodbath."

Macy asks, "What was your arena about?"

"We were in a hotel that has a resort and casino."

"I wish I was in that games."

"Lana, you'd never want to experience the terrorism in those games."

"Well, I had pirates, sea serpents, colossal squids in my games!"

Dorian interrupts, "Perhaps we can discuss our angle?"

"Ah yes!" Amaya reacts. "Let's start with the chariots first. Macy, I can imagine you using your positive energy and cuteness to capture the hearts of the crowd."

"Sounds great to me!" Macy says excitedly.

"As for you Mister Belcorn," says Amaya as she rubs her chin again. "Your actions earlier reflect who you truly are. Is that right?"

"Certainly," he replies.

"In that case, you can go for your gentlemanly angle earlier. Try to charm the crowd."

"With confidence," he adds.

"Wonderful! Based on my experience, tributes who get along well get more attention for sponsors, so if you two can cooperate with each other and show the crowd what confidence you have, then you will have enough positive reception from the tribute parade."

"All seems well!" Alana agrees.

"Very well then," Amaya says as she puts both her hands together, creating a loud clap.

"Miss Amaya, I have a question!"

"Yes Macy?"

"Is it true that Katniss Everdeen was a symbolism for the rebellion?"

This is a topic Amaya wants to avoid. "It was a long time ago, but yes, everybody looked up to Miss Everdeen."

"Oh my gosh!" exclaims Alana. "I wonder what the teacher taught you in school. Back in my day, one teacher said Katniss is still alive today. Another one said the last Snow killed her. Then there's another story with her being killed by an insane gangster. I mean, the history books are not consistent! The things they teach us in school are so biased."

"Lana, relax. Let us talk about the present, okay? Whatever happened in the past can be viewed in the library."

"Amaya, those books contain fallacies!"

Amaya thinks of a proper response for that, but ends up saying, "The discussion of history will be relevant for another time. Right now, I think they'll be showing us raw footage of the reapings from all the districts."

"Is this the time to pick allies, Miss Amaya?" Macy asks with curiosity.

"You base first impressions from them," Alana says.

"Mister Elphyz, kindly turn on the TV," Amaya says.

Neomett looks up from his phone and turns on the television. He switches it to the channel for the reaping recap.

* * *

History's youngest hunger games victor, Kylene Roa, has both of her hands on her face, feeling anxious as always. Her co-mentor enters the room and sits beside her on the wooden chair of the dining car.

"Abraham, how are we gonna deal with the boy?"

"It's fine, Ky. I'll handle him. You can get the girl."

"Alright. Where are they?"

"I separated them in different cars. The boy was trying to offend the girl. I guess this means mentoring will be done separately."

"Oh my glob!" She puts both her hands on her face again. "How is the audience suppose to like him if he's asking for a fight every single time?"

"Ky, leave that problem to me."

"Even though he's not tribute, I'm still concerned for the district's reputation."

Three knocks on the door. An avox opens it bringing food with him.

"Let's try to let them eat together."

"Abraham, that is a bad idea."

"Let's just give it a try. I'll call them now."

"Wait!"

Abraham goes back to the car he came from. Kylene's hands are back on her face while the avox is preparing the food on the shelves, to be served to Kylene, Arlenna, Kobe, and Abraham one by one later. Leilah comes to the room to turn on the TV. The screen shows Arlenna getting picked, followed by...

 _"Our male tribute this year could be - Kobe Bridger. Please don't…"_

 _"Fuck you!"_

Kylene covers her face anxiously. Arlenna enters the dining car to see a part of the recap. Kylene looks up again.

 _"A BIG FUCK YOU FOR PICKING ME!" Kobe shouted while flashing his middle finger. "THANK YOU SO MUCH!"_

Leilah looks to Kylene's direction, and Kylene buries her face with her hands again. Arlenna watches the recap intriguingly. Leilah watches the scene carefully.

 _"FUCK YOU! I HATE YOU! I HAAATE YOOOUUU SO MUCH! I WISH YOU - MMMMM!" One of the peacekeepers covered Kobe's mouth._

 _"D-district Ten, l-let us s-s-support our t-tributes this year, n-n-n-no matter wh-what!" Kylene stammers anxiously, followed by an attempt to smile._

Kylene shakes her head while her hands are still on her face. Arlenna takes a seat as the avox lays the last dish on the shelf. While the avox is leaving the dining car on one end, Abraham and Kobe enter from the other end.

"Hey kid, just because your family owns a ranch doesn't mean you have to keep your mouth shut all the time!"

Abraham gives Kobe a pat on the back. "Kobe, no need to bash your district partner."

"Why can't we have communism and be communists!?"

Leilah glares at Kobe, and Kobe notices this, so he glares back and attempts to attack her. Abraham gets a hold of Kobe, and Leilah leaves the car before anything worse happens.

"Coward! COME BACK HERE YOU COWARD!"

"Uh, I don't mean any disagreement, but shouldn't it be socialism?" Kylene asks nervously.

"It's communism! COMMUNISM! I don't care if it's called socialism. You're probably manipulating me!"

Kylene wants to cower in fear. She feels like she made a big mistake. However, a mentor fearing a tribute sounds completely wrong, so she doesn't show it.

Abraham says, "Kobe, try not to fight any of your mentors. She'd appreciate it if you apologize to her."

"Why should I apologize for something I'm never even close to being sorry for!? It's COMMUNISM!"

Kylene wants to run, but she sits still.

"Okay, let's get away from that communism talk. It's communism if it's communism."

"Yes!" Kobe agrees with passion. "FOR COMMUNISM!"

"Okay okay. We have a lot to fix young man."

"Get away!" Kobe tells his district partner.

Arlenna only looks at Kobe. This is the point Kylene learns that they can't eat together peacefully.

"Uh, Abraham, can we eat before we mentor?"

"Sure, Ky."

Abraham and Kobe take a seat each. Kobe takes the farthest end. At least Arlenna and Kylene are quite a distance away from Kobe.

The avox comes back to the room, to serve each of the four of them their bowls of soup.

"What is this!?" Kobe stares at his bowl in disgust.

"It's called soup," answers Abraham.

"Yeah, but what kind of soup?"

"French onion."

"What!? Who puts this - Is this cheese!? - Who puts cheese in their soup!?"

"Karl Marx."

"What!?" Kobe stands up in fury.

"Kobe, trust me. Just give it a try."

"You're lying! This is what rich people eat!"

Arlenna loudly sips on the soup. "Pardon me. The soup is delicious though."

"See!?" Kobe reacts. "This is rich people soup! I refuse to drink it."

Abraham calmly gives Kobe a pat at the back. "Kobe, for every time you don't try something, you lose the opportunity of having a new experience."

Kobe stares at his soup. "Hmph!" Kobe tries the soup. He finds it delicious, but his pride refuses to give in. "It's not my favorite."

"I-I can have it," Kylene stammers.

"No!" Kobe holds his bowl tight and drinks the rest of the soup. Abraham shrugs to the situation, and Kylene shrugs back, while Kobe is busy with his soup.

The avox serves each of them a plate with four slices of honey roasted duck.

"What!? I thought rich people eat more!?" Kobe reacts out of shock.

"Kobe, it's called fine dining."

"What do you mean, rich people eat this and they call it fine!?"

Kylene rolls her eyes while Arlenna slowly puts the slice of duck on her tongue.

"I've never eaten anything like this before!" Arlenna says, surprised. She chews it with passion, widening her eyes at one point, then closing them completely to savor the meat.

"Remember Kobe, not trying it is a lost experience." Abraham says it before having his slice of duck.

Kobe glares at his mentor, then he glares at his meat. He picks up his fork and stabs the meat. He smells it before reacting in disgust, then he glares at his mentor again before putting the meat in his mouth. He quickly drinks his beverage to wash off the taste, but it's not water like he expected. It's apparently lemon water. He swallows the water immediately, then makes another violent reaction.

"Is this water clean!? Or does rich water taste like this!?"

"Kobe, that's lemon water."

"What!? Why put lemon and water together when they don't taste the same? One of them is sour, and the other tastes... it tastes, uh..."

"It tastes like nothing, so why not have the lemon to flavor it. It's a healthier type of water you know."

Kobe tries to ignore what his mentor just said, but he still uses the lemon water to swallow out the duck's taste, which he barely tasted in its honey roasted state.

Once they were done with their duck, the avox serves them lamb shank.

"Is this beef or pork?"

"It's lamb."

"What!?"

"Yeah yeah, it's rich people food. Again, you don't have to try it if you don't want to." At this point, Abraham is slowly losing his cool.

Kobe goes back to his food. He thinks about not everybody getting the opportunity to be fed well. Not eating it is an opportunity missed, as his mentor says to him repeatedly, so he gives it a try.

Arlenna is in awe with the food. At one point she was stuffing her mouth with food, on the next she was wiping away tears of joy with her napkin.

The rest of lunch passed with not so much noise. Dessert finally comes and each of them are served mango crepe a la mode.

"This is mango right!?" Arlenna reacts in shock. She quickly takes a passionate bite of the dessert, and chews it slowly, savoring every flavor it has in it. "This is probably the best lunch I've ever had in my entire life." She continues to use the napkin to wipe away tears of joy.

This time, Kobe makes an eye roll before he puts a slice of crepe into his mouth.

"Any regrets with today's lunch?" Abraham asks.

Kobe does not respond to it. Instead, he says, "Whatever this sweet thing is at the end of lunch, I LOVE IT!"

 _You should be thankful you had the opportunity to try it._ Abraham doesn't say it out loud, knowing that Kobe's pride will ruin the peaceful mood that has been maintained for most or half of lunch.

Kylene gets up and says, "Arlenna, come to the next car once you're done. I'll wait for you there."

Arlenna is still wiping tears on her napkin. "Okay."

Kylene moves to the next car and stays there alone for the meantime. She is glad she's not the one mentoring, or at least handling, Kobe. At the same time, a waterfall of relief flushes into her now calm state of mind as Abraham was able to control Kobe's fiery personality. She doesn't realize that she feels better now. Arlenna comes into the room soon after.

Kylene starts, "I missed most of the reaping recap. Sorry."

"No it's okay. I don't plan on getting allies. They're not necessary for me."

"But how about your rivals?"

"It's okay. I'll still see them at training."

Kylene lets out a sigh of relief. "I think we can start with your angle." She notices that Arlenna is still standing. "Come, sit closer."

As Arlenna takes a seat on the soft blue couch, Kylene talks about her experience in her chariot ride. Even though she was a very shy ten-year-old that time, she waved to the crowd sweetly with confidence. Arlenna shares that she is shy too, thus Kylene encourages her to raise her confidence come the tribute parade.

"You got this in the bag, girl!" Kylene smiles after saying it, although she looks obviously awkward with her smile. Arlenna tries to smile properly, but she ends up nodding in agreement.

Kylene sighs in relief once more. "I think you can do this. We can get enough sponsors before the games will even begin."

Arlenna simply nods. Kylene understands that they're both shy, but as the elder one, she tries to break the ice.

"You know, I never really expected to win."

There comes a pause, before Arlenna asks, "Why?"

"In a quell involving children ages four to twelve, it was anybody's game." Kylene feels regret talking about her games. She doesn't want to bring back bad memories. She covers her face with her hands, being too anxious to tell her story. "I can show you more of my games when we get to the Capitol, but it's too painful to watch." She inhales and exhales in a panicky manner.

Arlenna gives her some pats on the back. "It's alright. Thank you for the tips, mentor."

Kylene now tries to hold back tears. She's grateful to have a mentee like Arlenna. She breathes in and out once again. "No problem. Just doing my job. Can I give you a hug?"

"No problem."

The two exchange hugs awkwardly. Even though each of them doesn't feel confident about herself, she is glad to have met someone who is just as underconfident and awkward as she is.

* * *

AN:

Any district you would want to see next for train rides? By the way, I proofread this time. XP Next chapter will be the stunters' orientation, where more of their roles in the arena will be revealed. Also, let me know if there's anything I have to improve or if you have any suggestions for the next time I'll be writing about the train rides.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)


	21. Stunter Orientation: What's New?

Alistair is able to contact all four volunteers, also known as the stunters, for this year's games. He is supposed to meet them tonight, but they all agreed rescheduling it to right after lunch.

"Jom, can you call Morty?"

"Sir, he is still with Isis for the recap and analysis."

"Oh right!" Alistair completely forgot about what he assigned Morty with. "I need someone who knows the arena by heart."

"How about Al?"

 _Al!?_ Alistair doesn't really like Al, so he says, "Hmmm... anyone else?"

"Not that I can think of, sir."

 _Ugh! Fine._ Alistair hesitates, but eventually says, "Fine. Please bring him in."

Jom exits the room. Alistair is left alone in the small head gamemaker's office. The other twenty-four gamemakers use a common room during a break time like this. When not on breaks, Alistair and the rest of the gamemakers would all be in the control room.

Al enters the room and says, "Yo Alistair! Wazzup?"

"We'll be explaining stuff about the arena to the stunt people."

"Ah! Can we bring them to the control room?"

 _Why didn't I think of that!? Ugh! I never needed Al for this,_ Alistair thinks, then says, "Alright. Is there anyone at the lobby now?"

"Just Genji separating the guests."

"What, why?"

"For a surprise factor."

"Surprise?"

"I don't know who said that, but they said to separate them for a surprise factor."

Alistair tries to think about it, but then he just lets it be. "Fine. Bring in the first guest to the control room."

Al contacts Genji then leaves the room. Alistair fixes his things before leaving his office too.

Lucius Thromanoid waits at the entrance of the control room.

"Welcome! You must be Lucius."

"Yeah. I'm here for the hunger games."

"Alright. Al, can we bring in our second guest?"

Al contacts Genji once more, and a second guy who's much younger enters the room.

"How old are you?" asks Alistair.

"Nineteen."

"You're not of reaping age anymore."

"I'm old enough for this, right?"

"Sure, Titan. Your mother didn't know any of this."

"I'm nineteen. I can take care of myself and I don't have to tell her everything."

"Fine, fine." Alistair then introduces the two with each other. "Lucius, Titan; Titan, Lucius."

"Howdy!" Lucius greets as he reaches out his right hand.

Titan shakes Lucius's hand then says, "Nice to meet you."

Al says, "Our third guest is coming."

"Alright, tell her to come in."

The two stuntmen were intrigued with the mention of 'her' as it is unusual to have a female stunt person. The vice president's daughter enters the room.

"Hello guys!" she greets.

"Hello, Halizeia. What brings you here?"

"I'm here to have fun." She looks at her fellow stunters and they look back, judging each other for first impressions.

"This is Halizeia, Vice President Makker's daughter. Halizeia, meet Lucius and Titan."

"Hello!" She reaches out her hand to shake both of theirs.

"Nice to meet you," Titan says.

"Hey!" greets Lucius.

"We have one more." Alistair rubs his hands. "Al, is she outside?"

"I think Genji said he just saw a vehicle arriving outside."

"Alright. We shall wait."

"Genji is escorting her since she's the last one."

Alistair sighs silently. "Okay fine."

In half a minute or so, an aged woman, not too old though, enters the room. The three stunters look like they are questioning who this last 'stunter' is, as she has never appeared on any news media or reality show. Not even the circus looks like a place she has ever performed in.

"Please introduce yourself; your new colleagues probably don't recognize you."

She nods. "I am Eltha Duthaulge, a single mother who needs the money."

"Interesting. Lucius." He reaches his hand out for a shake.

"Halizeia." She follows Lucius on reaching a hand out.

"Titan Smith." His hand out for a shake too. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you all."

"That's everyone," Alistair says. "Now where do we start?"

"Outfits," Genji suggests.

"Hmmm... alright then. There are 24 stylists as usual per year, and instead of assigning them to tributes or letting them draw lots, we're gonna allow them to pick their tributes. However, they will be drawing lots on whose outfit they'll have to design among the four of you. Each of you will have six designs to choose from, and the four of you will also be our guest judges for later. The designs you choose will be your outfits in the arena, while the designers for those outfits get the advantage on who they'll be styling for in this year's hunger games."

Some of them nod as they understand what Alistair just said.

"Is everything clear?"

Silence.

"Well, you can always ask later, if you must. Now, let's move on to your roles."

Alistair walks to the main control panel in the room, which is right in front of a large white table. He turns on the hologram to show the whole arena, and it appears on the large white table.

"This is our arena. As you can see, we have four different sector. Each of you will be the landlord or landlady of one, so the outfits the stylists will be designing for you must be based on your theme. Please talk among yourselves and pick a section of the arena."

The four of them discuss.

Titan says, "I'll take the airborne one. I'm used to flying."

"So that's settled," says Halizeia. "Anyone else?"

"Hmmm..." thinks Lucius aloud.

Eltha says, "I'll take the one with the castle."

"Okay," Lucius says. "I don't want the forest. You can take it."

"So the forest is mine," says Halizeia as she thinks whether it really is a forest or not, as the trees aren't very populated.

"We're good," announces Lucius. The four of them face Alistair.

"Who's taking Sector One?" Alistair temporarily hides the other three sectors and the mountain, leaving the spacey part of the arena on one corner of the table.

Titan raises his hand.

"Very well then. Sector Two?" Alistair hides that part of the arena and reveals the part south of it.

Eltha raises her hand this time.

"Okay. Sector Three?" Alistair makes the part beside it appear while hiding the one that was there.

Lucius says, "I'll take that."

"Last one must be Halizeia's." He highlights the sector north from the third sector.

Halizeia nods.

"Alright. Any questions, comments, violent reactions?"

"How is Sector One floating?" Lucius asks.

"Ah! After trying the gravity panels last year, we thought we'd use a bigger one for this year's arena. So now, that's about a fourth of the arena floating."

"And what are those particles?" Lucius follows up. "I only recognize the clouds."

"The brown one is mud, the red one is lava, and the blue one is water. You'll see more of it in action eventually."

Halizeia raises her hand.

"Yes?"

"What is the giant hole for in Sector Three?"

"That's the crater dug deep enough for the coal. It's hot, but we'll cover it with meshed metal. More on that later."

"Every sector has a building. Is that where we stay?" Titan points out.

"Yes! That brings me to our next point: your roles. In this year's games, each of you will be handling a sector of the arena. The catch? Each of you will act like gamemakers inside the arena. In each building is a control room with a control panel where you can release mutts or unleash calamities within your sector. The tributes should not discover any of these areas. Otherwise, we reserve the right to terminate the sector earlier than expected. You may activate the mutts or calamities any time you wish to, so long as it is before the deadline to be indicated on your control panels. Each sector also has a specific weather condition and climate you can activate anytime. Any questions, comments, clarifications, violent reactions?"

Silence.

"Well then, let's move on to the water supply. Each sector has a water supply, but tributes may have a harder way in accessing them. For example, since Sector One is in zero-gravity, water coming out from the faucet or shower may not come out as it is typically expected to. Let the tributes figure it out themselves."

Some of them nod as they understand it.

"You may also provide them food, and each sector has a limited amount of food. Take note, do not poison any of the food yourselves, as killing any of the tributes is not allowed, unless they discover the control room. We want tributes to kill one another. The reason why you're all called stunters is the risk of being mistaken as human mutts. They can kill you, but you can not kill them, unless they discover the control room. That's the only time you kill them."

Eltha raises her hand.

"Yes?"

"Why are we allowed to provide food for them? Isn't it called the hunger games for a reason?"

"Back in the day, it was true hunger causing tributes to die, but that method of dying is not entertaining to any of our audiences. This year, we are feeding them to avoid the ratings going down every time someone dies of thirst or hunger. Tributes knowing edible plants and insects may not even need this skill this year. Anyway, back to hunger as a cause of death, the point of the Snow Dynasty was to kill teenagers from the districts without any mercy. After the Snow Dynasty, the Capitol audience craves for more entertainment, caring less about the suffering of the tributes unless they're entertaining."

Halizeia agrees, "We are a changed Panem."

"True." Alistair thinks about the future not so far from now. The new ruling may or may not come into effect depending on the president by that time. "Is everything clear so far?"

No one responds.

"Very well then. Next up, you will each be protecting a special weapon and a personal artifact. The special weapons will be based on your sectors. The personal artifacts are yours to keep after the games, assuming you make it out. The designers will show you some samples, then just pick one of them. They'll probably be here tomorrow. I hope everything is clear. Any questions?"

Al and Genji raise their hands.

"What?"

"Can we get our personal artifacts too?" Genji asks with malice.

"For what?"

"For helping you, bro," Al responds.

"We will talk about this next time. I assume nobody else has questions."

Al and Genji raise their hands again.

"What now?"

"How about our specialized weapons?" asks Genji with malice again.

"Oh come on. Let's move on to the last part of the orientation. I will now show each of you a closer view of your sector. If you need avoxes to help you with housekeeping, just say so."

The four of them are ushered to a seat each. A hologram of their respective sectors appear before them, and they study the surroundings of their corresponding sectors for the next half an hour.

Some time in between, Alistair remembers hidden stuff in each sector, so he announces, "By the way, the landladies will be keeping an abundant supply of first-aid or medicine, while the landlords will have an abundant supply of weapons. You are allowed to help them with medication or weaponry, but you may also let them discover those prized assets themselves. Anyway, continue."

Avoxes have been in the arena for several times. Some of them get out of the arena alive and go back to work after. Others are terminated by mutts or killed by tributes. They are usually in the arena to act as human mutts, except they are not mutts as those are harder to develop with artificial intelligence. Gamemakers in the past got fired for poor outcomes in human mutts, thus avoxes usually serve as a substitute for human mutts.

Lucius says, "I'll need five, probably ten, avoxes."

"I'm used to cleaning the place on my own," says Eltha. "Maybe one or two will do."

"I'm on the same boat with Eltha," says Halizeia. "Maybe having at least one will do for me."

"I guess two to five will do for me," Titan says.

"You can still add some more when the time comes, but I'll note those numbers for now. Is everything clear?"

"Yup," replies Halizeia.

"Yes," says Titan.

"Yeah," responds Lucius.

Eltha nods her head.

"Alright. I can dismiss you now, but we'll need to show up for the stylists' competition. Wanna go now?"

"Sure," Halizeia says.

"I'm fine with that," Titan adds.

Alistair nods then says, "Alrighty then."

Al, Genji, and Alistair turn off the machines they've used. Break time for other present gamemakers is over, so they fill the control room doing what Alistair tasked them to do for the day. The four stunters and the three gamemakers head out to the lobby. Genji calls the limousine service to pick them up, and it arrives not long after. Each of them enter one by one, with Alistair being the last one to go in.

"It's time to orient this year's stylists," Alistair says by the time he is on his seat. An avox closes the limousine door, and the vehicle leaves the gamemaking center.

* * *

AN:

The deadline for stylist submissions is next week Thursday, which could be Wednesday depending on your time zone. It's also when I'll release the next chapter, the train rides for the 1st 4 districts. The chapter after that, which is the stylists' orientation, will probably come 2 to 3 weeks after the 2nd set of train rides. I finished this chapter around June 17, but I didn't proofread it until recently. I usually proofread before updating. Chapter 19 was just an experiment. XD

I'm somewhat done with midterms, yay! Midterms is the reason this chapter came a bit late. Also, I said I would update this on Thursday, but it is 1 AM Friday over here as I am releasing this update. It's still Thursday on most time zones though, so yay too!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :) Any guesses on the arena? ;)


	22. Train Rides B: Impressive Impressions

AN:

Districts 4, 3, 2, 1. Here we go!

This chapter is about 8k words, but if you take them separately, that's an average of 2k words per district.

Enjoy the chapter! :)

* * *

In the District Four train, Jeanne never bats an eye on Horden's direction, still disliking him just because he's poor and full of freckles.

Delta wipes her mouth with the napkin provided. "We'll continue mentoring separately, yes?"

"Of course!" Jeanne replies to her mentor immediately.

Horden knows he doesn't want to stay with Jeanne too. He thinks an attitude like that is part of an equation for downfall. Jeanne and Delta exit the dining car of the train.

Tommy says, "Horden, can you tell me again the reason you volunteered? I want to make things clear from what you told me earlier."

Horden clears his throat and says, "I want a better life for myself."

"You said that going into the games is not your biggest dream though?"

"The games is the only way I'll be able to get it."

Tommy tilts his head and back. He tries to understand what Horden just said. "Are you sure?"

Horden nods his head, while Tommy scratches his after.

"I'm not sure if I'm able to connect the dots, sorry. Can you explain to me another reason why you volunteered?"

Horden thinks for a while, then says, "What don't you understand with my first reason?"

"You're saying that the games is the only way you can get a better life, but there are other ways of success, right?"

"Yes, but I don't want my family to wait for my unconfirmed success. I mean, even this is not guaranteed, but I'll do anything if it's for my family and friends."

Tommy tries to swallow it in, and just nods in the end. "Since you're not our chosen volunteer, I didn't get to know you much. Can you tell me more about yourself?" Before lunch, Tommy only asked about his life at home.

Horden drinks some lemon water before speaking. "I don't believe in rules. They're meant to be broken. I may challenge authority sometimes, but it has to be done in the right way. Living in this world allows me to be myself and have the freedom to do what I want to do. However, I don't truly know myself, so I'm still discovering what kind of man I really am. I think I am a good actor, and that it may be a good element of surprise that may help me in the games. I hate cocky people like my district partner. People like her are doomed to fail. However, I believe each person has something good or valuable within them, even my district partner. Lying is the worst thing anybody could possibly do to me. I'll never look at the person the same way again. Power is an illusion, and what can be gained like power can also be taken away easily. If you leave me alone, I'll leave you alone, because I don't believe in hurting anyone that doesn't need to be hurt. I ignore small insults, but I don't take big insults lightly. I won't stop until the person admits that he's wrong. I think a god does not exist, since I believe no one is better than anyone."

There is a long pause as Tommy processes everything Horden just said.

 _Did he just summarize his whole personality!? I can't keep up with his pace, but he's philosophical, very._ Tommy clears his throat, then says, "Do I have to introduce myself?"

"Feel free to."

"I... uh... I won the 129th Hunger Games, and - uh..." Tommy nervously scratches his head, not being able to introduce himself properly without stammers.

"It's okay."

Tommy awkwardly stops thinking. Silence fills the room for the next minute.

"Let's continue our mentoring session. What else do you need to know about what you just got yourself into?"

Now is Horden's turn to think. He has a strategy for training, and a bit of an idea for the actual games, but then he realizes what he's missing.

"Can we talk about my angle?"

Tommy processes what Horden just said, and then replies with, "Yes! If you want, you can show them a little bit of muscle."

"Positivity is key."

"Yes! Yes it is. Smile and wave to the crowd. Blow some kisses. Catch everybody's attention as much as you can."

"How concerned should I be about my outfit?"

"Part of it is luck, but even a bad outfit can be played well. Ever heard of the Eleven kid who was dressed as an orange?"

Horden shakes his head.

"He intentionally rolled off his chariot while making it look like an accident."

"Whoa! How do we know if we're getting good outfits or not?"

"To be honest, it's really based on luck. Part of it is what your stylist gives you. Another part is who you get as a stylist."

Horden thinks, then say, "Who was yours?"

"Charlie Kale. He's so gay, hahaha!"

"What's funny with being gay?"

"It's his attitude. He can come off as annoying, but his actions are really funny. If you don't mind him touching your nipples, then he's fine, hahaha! He's a fan favorite."

"Is he still around?"

"Probably."

"How about for the interviews? What angle should I play?"

"Hmmm... can you make people laugh?"

"I think so. Yes."

"Do you think your story can capture the hearts of the crowd?"

"I think so too. It's worth a try."

"You should have no problem then."

"I can also show them my playful side, yes?"

"Yes. If it will get everybody's attention, it's likely a good strategy."

As they have successfully talked about strategies and angles, Jeanne and Delta on the other hand is having some trouble.

"Jeanne, I didn't select you as this year's volunteer to be a whore!"

"Bitch, I am making the sexy moves all I want. I am playing to win!"

"Don't you dare bitch your mentor! Remember, sponsoring goes through me."

"Or Ezairlayne. She will accept me unlike you!"

"I can tell her not to sponsor you."

"You're not the boss of me! I don't owe you anything." Jeanne opens the door to the next train car.

"I'm your mentor. I'm trying to help-"

"You're not helping me! You're some high ass bitch disagreeing with me!" Jeanne slams the door.

Ezairlayne was reading newspaper on the same train car, but now she stares at Jeanne with a shocked expression and with her mouth wide open.

"Darling, please don't disrespect your mentor." Ezairlayne says it sweetly, like how a high class grandma would.

Jeanne is pissed, but she tries to hold her anger on her mentor.

"Darling, you need a hug."

Ezairlayne quickly approaches Jeanne for a hug. She resists, but Ezairlayne is surprisingly a strong hugger for her age.

 _Let me go, old woman!_ The thought stays trapped in Jeanne's head.

Ezairlayne still hugs Jeanne. "You need some loving, child."

 _No I don't! Now let me go!_ Jeanne hesitates saying it to someone just being kind. She tries to break free though, but Ezairlayne's grip only gets tighter. It comes to a point that Jeanne says without any hesitation, "Okay okay. Now let me go!"

Ezairlayne lets her go, and she storms out to the next car.

"Jeanne, wait!"

Jeanne hesitantly turns around.

"Tell me what's wrong. Maybe I can help you."

Jeanne sighs. "I told her that I'll be playing the sexy angle. I want to lead the career pack or play sexy on our leader. I'm doing this as a strategy, and that Delta bitch does not support my idea."

Ezairlayne gives her some pats on the back. "It's okay, darling. I actually like your idea, and I can't wait to see how you will do it." She smiles to Jeanne upon saying this.

"Um... thanks?"

"Don't mention it. Delta can be a bit closed on ideas sometimes. I don't think your idea is bad. It's just... different. You know what I mean? I wouldn't do that if I were me, but if you wanna do it, then go ahead."

Jeanne still thinks her strategy will work fine. "Thanks. I'll work on that then." She's still a bit pissed with Delta, so she wants to isolate herself. She slowly walks away from Ezairlayne and moves to another train car, locking it this time. She sits down and takes a deep breath. _I'll pull this off. I know I can do it._

* * *

Lunch may be over, but everyone from District Three uses the dining table of the dining car for discussion. Tira elected to be mentored alongside with Chip, while Chip remained unresponsive until two to three minutes after being asked.

"So... what comes next?" asks Hazel.

Renz replies, "We ask them for angle or strategy, depending what we haven't asked them earlier. If you want, giving them advice is another good way to keep both you and your tribute busy."

"G-G-Got it?" Azriel asks.

"Got it," replies Hazel. She observes Renz mentoring Tira and Azriel mentoring Chip. Both mentors told her to take the back seat and relax. After all, this is her first year as a mentor, even though she's not on the official list of mentors. She's a mentor-in-training, or assistant mentor as others may say. She has been taking notes of all her observations so far. She fixes her blue square-framed eyeglasses and observes more from the four. At some point in time, Chip asks about indoor arenas.

"O-Oh, i-i-indoor a-arenas." Azriel looks at Hazel's direction, knowing that her good memory and lack of stuttering can help him do the talking.

Hazel clears her throat before stating the facts. "There were actually quite a lot in the past few years. Azriel's arena was a laboratory full of puzzles that keeps changing. It was a special year for the games, so the arena was super weird with different game mechanics. The careers of that year were easily ousted due to their lack of skills in puzzles. Say, what was your training score back in that time?"

"T-T-Two."

"And that's why you should never give up even with a low training score. Anyway, going back to indoor arenas." She pauses to think. "The 138th games were partially indoors. The arena was an amusement park on a short mountain range. Indoor arenas can give anyone the surprise factor, and that's what was emphasized in that year's games. Karlasia Trappist used that to her advantage, and that's how she won her games."

Tira raises her hand to ask, "Was that the year of the cable car incident?"

"Yes! In fact, it increased everybody's odds in winning after that. Some tributes took the games more seriously from then on, knowing they had a better chance to win. Karla was one of them."

"The cable car incident was probably an award-winning moment," says Tira.

"I think it was." Hazel can connect with Tira somehow. Both of them can tell that the other has had pro-Capitol influences in the past. "My arena last year was also indoors."

"What was your strategy?" Tira asks. Azriel and Renz relax a bit with Hazel discussing some facts off her memory.

 _For a starter, I think Hazel is doing pretty well. I must've underestimated her_ , thinks Renz.

"I stayed with where I was good at."

"And that was...?"

"The science lab. My arena was a big university. It only made sense for a laboratory to exist. I had enough chemicals and equipment to build my defense."

"Did you have any allies?" Tira is getting more interested with Hazel's mentoring style. She knew the answer Hazel would give, but she's hoping for more information supporting the expected answer.

"No. I didn't get any allies because I thought I would work better alone. Some people tend to keep to themselves and prefer doing things independently. Others need moral support and interdependence to keep themselves alive. It's up to you to ally or not, whichever is better for you."

Tira nods in response, knowing that she has to try getting Chip to her side. Her kind and caring instinct can act as a security blanket to Chip. She knows she'd rather have an ally than not having one, but her decision is purely based on subjectivity. She's been trying to befriend Chip since the reaping after all.

"How did you make kills?" Tira asks.

"I had to play by the environment I was given. I know the science lab by heart. I can protect it with my eyes closed. I stayed there for the most part of my games to keep my fort safe, but I also went out a couple of times to get certain equipment and materials I eventually used. I also knew the engineering labs and used the blind spots of the equipment to my advantage. Sometimes, it's a game of wits rather than a game of offense, right Azriel?"

Azriel agrees by nodding. He knows what it's like to be in an indoor arena and in a games that do not depend on brawn for winning.

"I think that's everything about indoor arenas." Hazel hesitates on what to say next. "If you have any questions, feel free to ask me." _Oh wow! I can be a history teacher now._

"I think Chip is tired," Tira says, rubbing his back while he stares blankly into Hazel's direction.

"Oh alright. I'm a bit tired too actually," Hazel says. _Or rather I'm just not a social person._

As Hazel leaves the train, Tira follows up a "Thank you!" Hazel looks back and smiles in reply. Renz follows Hazel to the next train car. Azriel awkwardly follows them too after a minute.

As the door shuts, Tira tries to get Chip to "Wake up! Chip, Chip." She snaps her fingers in front of him.

 _Based on simulations, she was right about indoor arenas. How about outdoor arenas though? What about allying too? Should I get an ally?_

Tira patiently tries to get Chip's attention. "Chip, Chip, Chip..."

Meanwhile with the mentors, the two male ones commend how good Hazel was with explaining to them some in-depth stuff about the games.

"Oh, it was nothing." She smiles shyly, flattered from the compliments.

"I swear! I can't even get my tributes' attentions like that, and I already tried so much."

"Oh Renz, maybe you were too intimidating for them."

"No I was not!"

"You decapitated a career in your year, and that's all it takes to be intimidating."

"Hahaha! No way. Did you find me intimidating for a first impression."

"Yes, yes I did." She smiles sweetly.

"Awww... come on. I know you're bluffing."

"No I'm serious. Decapitating someone ain't easy."

A brother-sister relationship is how Renz and Hazel would describe their relationship. They meet multiple times a week since they are neighbors living in the Victors' Village.

Azriel takes a book with him and isolates himself on the next car.

"Guess what's even harder," Renz says.

"Killing your district partner in the final two?"

"No. Sorry, I never liked Steffy."

 _If I had to kill my district partner, I might have died of guilt._ Hazel tries to come up with another guess, but she can only reply with, "Then what?"

"Being forced to go to church when you never believed in God."

"Until now I can't relate."

"It's okay."

Renz turns on the TV, and the two watch a show about twenty-four stylists competing on making outfits for four stunt people.

Although unspoken between tributes and mentors, one worry this district has for this year's games is that they may be perceived as a threat. Three victors in a decade is not a usual occurrence for a district like Three. Furthermore, this district's tributes are not even trained killers to begin with. Perhaps anybody would say that time changes the themes. In an ordinary year, Azriel would not have won his games. What are the chances of the games barely requiring any amount of brawn? It was purely puzzles. A mental games is not only unusual, but it's also the only one of its kind.

The year after was Renz's games. He was a strong contender of his time. Analysts have said that not only was his volunteering a rebellious act to defy his religious parents, but it was also to prove that District Three could fight not only with brains, but also with brawn. He killed tribute after tribute as he encountered them. Alas, his last kill was his own district partner. Renz makes his decision by brain, and not by heart. His parents may have disowned him for being an atheist, but he is a victor that can take care of himself independently.

Five years after, Hazel won with her strategy of using the indoor environment to her advantage. At the same time, luck was on her side. Without those materials and equipments, she would never have made it far in the first place. Sure, Hazel showed skill during her private session, but they were mostly traps for defense and survival. Who knew an indoor arena would give a nerdy girl from Three an advantage? Perhaps the other reason of her win was the career alliance's dwindling performance for the past decade. In fact, District One is long overdue for a victor. What happened? The tables have turned with the creativity of the gamemakers. They were all approved by different presidents after all. Maybe District One was just not playing their A game, or maybe District Three has gotten the unfair advantage of the advanced arenas these days.

Meanwhile with Tira and Chip, the latter got to respond to Tira's request for an alliance.

"Both of us will be a powerhouse!" Tira says confidently. She promises to protect Chip on their time in the games, and they have agreed to make decisions while considering each other's opinions. The two shake hands after.

"Say, I haven't seen you anywhere around the district. Where do you live?" Tira asks, starting an entirely new conversation.

Chip stares blankly to think, with a soft "Uhhh..." coming out from his mouth. He then outputs a statement which is, "I forgot."

Tira lets out a "Hmmm..." as she tries to think how someone like Chip can forget a place called home. "Do you live in a dorm?"

"Uh... yes?"

"Do you work on... computer chips?" No pun is intended upon this statement.

"Uh... no."

"How about computer programs, AI simulations?"

"Uh... yes!"

"Ah! Do you live in the factory?"

"Uh... huh, uh-huh." Chip nods his head as he says it.

"Hmmm... interesting." Tira has a bit of knowledge about District Three's programming factories. They're like career training, except the people who are both enrolled and working there are trained for District Three's main industry, technology. In Chip's case, his specialization or specific field of discipline is artificial intelligence. Others work with human computer interfaces, computer graphics, game design and development, natural language processing, software engineering, and a whole lot more.

What Chip can't remember and what Tira doesn't know is that Chip's parents left him and his twin brother in the factory forever, at a very young age. It's like how careers are sometimes abandoned by their parents in the training academies forever, in order to train their kids to be the very best like no one ever was. Same goes for District Three's programming factories sometimes. In Chip's case, his diligence and dedication to his work makes him less exposed to the world outside the factory.

"I have an idea. I'll just ask some questions, and all you have to do is answer yes or no. Sounds familiar?"

"Uh... is this something like, uh... machine learning?"

"You got it! Okay, here we go."

* * *

"Y'all think the soup was great? I say it was soup-er delicious!" remarks Cyrus, one of District Two's youngest victors.

"Cy, what the heck," replies his co-mentor, Joan.

While Cyrus and Joan are exchanging words with one another during lunch, both Rufus and Brenna remain silent the whole time. Brenna is silent to strangers by nature, while Rufus simply has nothing to say.

After lunch, Joan announces, "So earlier, we mentored you two separately for your personal strategies. Now, we'll mentor you two together for the basics of being a career."

They all stay in the dining car. Leif is there to watch them too, but since he's not really involved, he's more focused on his social media. Joan takes out her notebook and pen.

"So... should I give you a brief history about the careers?"

As Joan asks, nobody replies, so she just goes with it. She flips a few pages with her right hand while finger combing her pixie cut black hair.

"During the second decade of the Hunger Games, people from District Two started training with different types of weapons in preparation for the Hunger Games. Some of the reaped tributes in the past were prepared, thus they usually come home in victory. District Two was the first to establish training academies among us career districts. Ever since there was a year of consecutive victories, District Two decided to train their teenagers and come home as a victor, with honor."

During this time, Brenna just stares into Joan's direction, bored as expected. She's thinking of something else while Rufus is checking his sharp fingernails. Cyrus is lowkey yawning in boredom as well. He doesn't even bother listening to her. After about ten minutes or so, the topic becomes more familiar, as it enters the modern era.

"Ever since the games became more of an entertainment than a punishment, careers don't always win anymore. Arenas have been modified to balance the chances of trained and untrained tributes. Volunteers have still been selected to compete in career districts, but there have been cases of chosen volunteers backing out last minute for different circumstances. In rare cases, the reaped tribute goes into the games. However, it's more common to have a non-chosen volunteer to serve the district. Anybody can volunteer after all, but the academy doesn't select a second choice. Runners-up usually get to see their results, and although unspoken, they are allowed to volunteer in place for the chosen volunteer in case the chosen one backs out. Like I said, anybody can volunteer." Joan flips a page to start taking down notes, now that she's finished with the dull career orientation. "So Rufus, can you tell me why you volunteered?"

Rufus slowly looks up to Joan and says, "I want to be one of the youngest victors in history."

Joan tries to think of what happened to the chosen volunteer and why he backed out, but she received no news about this. "Okay. I believe age doesn't really determine one's skill in handling weapons, so I'd like to see what you have if I get the chance to."

"Yeah," agrees Cyrus. "My mentor didn't believe in me, just because I was fourteen. Look where I am now! He hates me, but that's his problem, not mine."

"True. I was there. It was Red, right?"

"Yeah, Reddeus Rocker. We've been alternating mentoring, along with Heath Moxie. This is just my second time actually. Heath mentored after my first year mentoring, then Red, and now it's me again. We don't really talk much. Nobody likes talking to me."

"True."

Brenna and Rufus listen to them talk once again.

Joan asks, "Who kicked you out of the career alliance?"

"The career leader of course, Strengthea. I was like, 'We're the careers, and what we're riding is the car-eers,' because that was the infamous year of the longest games, and we got a car. So the others told me to shut up because I was the youngest, and they all underestimated me. Strengthea was like, she took me out of the car then they drove off."

"What the heck."

"I know. That didn't make me give up though. Strengthea's district partner drowned in the quicksand, since the car ended up on quicksand. My district partner didn't care for me, but Strengthea pushed her off. I have no idea what happened to the Four pair, but they weren't part of the top six."

"What about Strengthea?"

"I think she hunted down the rest of the tributes for a week, then I met her back at the fake cornucopia. The arena was already collapsing that time, but it was just the two of us eventually."

"I think I remember now. You had the monster truck?"

"Yeah! Somebody loved my puns so much and sent me a monster truck. I crushed her lawn mower of course. It was anticlimactic, but I won! I bet she was mow-ning too, hehe."

"What the heck, Cy. But children, that is why you can't underestimate younger tributes."

"Do any of you know District Six's Robert Royce?"

Rufus and Brenna are still silent, but they are paying attention to Cyrus's storytelling.

"He won at twelve, and he even got a score of one for his private sessions. People thought he'd place twenty-fourth, but they were all so wrong. Robert had no skill in survivals nor in weapons, but he was one clever kid. He didn't take training seriously, but he manipulated his way to the end."

Joan fixes her eyeglasses. "You think his performance of not caring was a strategy? Because I think so."

"No it wasn't. He told me himself he regretted not taking things seriously when he was hungry for food. He managed to steal food and manipulate his way into getting his victims trapped or lost or attacked. He was extremely lucky though, because I don't think his manipulation was the main reason he won."

Silence.

Cyrus breaks it by saying, "And that's how the youngest non-quell victor won his games. Rufus, we're counting on you! I won at fourteen, Royce won at twelve, even last year's victor won at fourteen. You're gonna be our number... won!"

Rufus thinks, _Heh! Thanks for the motivation, but I don't need it, because I know I can burn everyone down to their miseries, even that quiet district partner of mine will be a piece of cake. Mwehehe!_ He doesn't say it because overconfidence is the downfall of most careers. Hiding it is a good idea, he thinks. What matters in the actual games is his determination to win. _Hmmm... I should show them that._

"Thanks!" He says it softly as he is hesitant with it. He then raises his voice saying, "I will not disappoint my district."

"That's the spirit, boy!" Cyrus says excitedly. "I can't wait to see you there kicking some butt!"

Joan then calls Brenna's attention. "How about you, Brenna?"

Brenna focuses on Joan, then says, "I've been training since I was orphaned."

"Can you tell us more?"

"I was sent there to train, and training is all I know for all my life." Her face and voice reflects her boredom and monotony with this small talk. _Why does she have to keep asking me questions!?_

"Ah, no wonder you're our selected volunteer. I know you won't disappoint too!"

 _Thanks, but I don't feel like using my voice again._ Brenna looks up and nods humbly.

"Anyway," Joan continues. "I hope you two are prepared for the upcoming career alliance. Brenna, would you rather lead the pack or not?"

Brenna simply shakes her head in reply.

"Very well then. As we all know, it's not almost every year that a career wins, unlike the days back in the Snow Dynasty. Be prepared for any twist during the bloodbath. You don't have to kill as early as possible. What matters in the end is that your strategy is gonna be a winning combo. Do what you think is best for you, not for the pack. In the end, what matters is the honor you get once you win."

They have all watched the reaping recap. Right now, their eyes are on the Three pair. They may be small, but they can't be underestimated after District Three's rise in victors within the decade. The volunteers are all to watch out for too, no matter what their reasons are. Lainey and Dorian look like the biggest threats among all non-career tributes. Kobe is a wild card, at least from the reapings. The mentors discussed earlier that if Kobe is still as explosive as he was in the reapings come training, he should be the first to be taken care of. However, they have also noted that not knowing the bloodbath twist plays a big factor in how they can get rid of all threats.

"Say, what was the bloodbath twist in your games, Joan?"

"Our bloodbath was timed. We had five minutes to get supplies and kill others, because after that given time limit, the acid killed two of us careers, my district partner and the girl from Four. They were nice people."

"Uh... oh. Guess that was acidic."

Joan rolls her eyes. "Yours was a trick."

"Yeah. Our cornucopia had no food nor weapons. We were just given vehicles. The six girl easily took off with the motorcycle. Some others rode the buggies provided, and I kid you not, there were boats there!"

"Oh yeah! That was ridiculous."

"I'd say it was for boat of the shitheads who tried using it. I can't believe they stayed there the whole week until the careers found them."

"Uh... the heck."

Cyrus snickers. "The actual cornucopia was a few kilometers away. There were signs anyway, and I was still riding the car-eers before they kicked me out on the morning of Day Three."

"Well, you won, so that's nothing bad for you."

"Yeah. I can't remember your games very much."

"Oh really? It was two gigantic human bodies, so our arena was divided with an east and a west portion, more well known as the male and female side. It was funny. The only time we can move from one body to the next is when you drill on a wall they are both making contact, or if they make out. The good thing was that the human bodies were at least dressed, but Day Seven was... hahaha! It's not for kids like you, Rufus! Hahaha!"

Rufus just looks up to Joan, then he goes back to his own world while half-listening to Joan. Brenna looks up shortly too, and also returns to minding her own business while listening a bit to what the mentors are discussing. The two of them silently judge Joan.

"Oh that year."

"Yup!" Joan replies.

There comes a long and awkward silence.

"You two should talk," Cyrus says. "I think you two have spoken less than a hundred words together."

Rufus just makes a menacingly evil smile, while Brenna returns with a cold and monotonous face.

Rufus thinks, _Cold and calculating. You may be silent, but I know you're a killer inside. You have one deadly beast in such a poise and graceful young lass. I'll watch out for you if we both make it far._

 _This kid. He's evil upon first impression. That smile just confirms it. This twelve-year-old is more than just dangerous, and the fact that he can be underestimated for being twelve may bring him further through the games than expected. Brenna, watch out for him._

"Hi," Rufus says softly.

Brenna replies more softly by saying, "Hi."

"Why are you two whispering? Talk!" Cyrus does not always understand introverts, as he is an extrovert himself.

More whispering. This time Brenna says hi first before Rufus whispers a hi much softer then Brenna did on her second hi.

"Okay, what the heck," Joan says.

 _He's gonna be a good ally, but he's going to be one messed up opponent,_ thinks Brenna.

 _She'll be a good a ally. I just know it. Let's hope she won't go as far as I will, because killing her will be trickier._ Rufus nods once.

Brenna returns the action and reaches her hand out.

Rufus brings his out too for the shake.

 _Interesting communication,_ Cyrus thinks.

 _So we understand each other, eh?_ Rufus thinks.

 _We seem to have effective communication, partner,_ Brenna thinks.

"Okay, that was weird and creepy. What the heck!" Joan moves to another car.

"I think we'll leave you two to socialize on your own." Cyrus moves to the car Joan didn't enter.

Brenna and Rufus stare into each other. They exchange devilish smiles.

Rufus thinks, _We're gonna be unstoppable!_

 _I didn't expect this from an ally. He's very promising._ Brenna widens her sadistic smile.

Rufus widens his too. __So you wanna play it this way huh?__

* * *

The District One mentor sighs. "Worse has come to worst." Ace Starling has been repeating it like it became her mantra. "I used to love my job, but these games are becoming more stupid than ever."

Annaleigh, Argentum, and Ace finish their desserts.

"Okay, it's Annaleigh's turn with me. Argentum, you can ask the avox if there are games in the train. Pretty sure there are." It's Ace's first time mentoring tributes alone, and she prefers mentoring them separately.

"Really!? That's awesome!" With that, Argentum storms off to a different train car, looking for games to play. Ace waits a few seconds before she locks both doors of the car.

"Alright Annaleigh, we have some serious talking to do." She goes back to her seat and looks at Annaleigh straight in the eyes.

"I'd love an explanation."

"Which is what I'm about to do. Your district partner is a piece of shit." She says it straight with no holds barred.

Annaleigh doesn't say anything in shock. _Wew, she's harsh!_

"The way he volunteered? He didn't take my warning seriously. He looks absolutely lazy just from the way he moves! I mean, what the fuck!"

Annaleigh leans back in shock.

"Bottom line: I don't like him. I gave him the usual tips I'd give any of my tributes, but I won't feel sorry for him if he dies because of his laziness. That's the last characteristic I would ever want from a tribute."

Annaleigh twiddles her thumbs awkwardly.

"You get what I mean? If you had to pick between a stupid but hardworking person and a smart but lazy person, who would you pick?"

 _The smart and hardworking one actually._ Annaleigh takes a breath then says, "The stupid but hardworking one."

"See! You get me. I gave him a small warning not to be lazy, but I don't think he took my advice seriously. That's up for him to fix. What matters is that I need you to come home and win."

 _Pressure... I signed up for this._ Annaleigh nods slowly.

"District One is overdue for a victor." Ace sighs. "Last year, Eigengrau was still mentoring the other tribute. Unfortunately, he got meningitis now. I hope he's doing fine, and I can't blame him for it." Ace shakes her head solemnly.

Annaleigh rubs Ace's back in sympathy. "He'll be okay. How long has he been mentoring?"

"Last year was his twentieth year mentoring, but he used to be alternating with someone. He enjoyed mentoring so much that he wanted to mentor as much as he can."

"Who was the guy he was alternating with?"

"Foci. He was young and able. Tragedy struck before the 130th Games. I don't wanna think about it." She wipes a tear.

"Sorry."

"I... I used to alternate with someone too, and it was nice to have someone to lean on when you wanted to take a break." She sighs solemnly. "Solaria was like a mother, a grandmother. She had bone cancer, sadly." She sighs once more. Her tone of sadness then shifts to anger while saying, "This is a hard time for District One, and the more advanced mechanics of the games are to blame for this!" She pounds her fist on the dining table.

"I have watched the games, but can you tell me more?"

Ace fixes her posture. Her eyes fill with rage as she tells Annaleigh some stories. "Let's start with the year Niccolo Jones became a head gamemaker. He was fine on the first year, but he let the mutts chase the careers! I mean, yes we're trained, but that's just not fair!"

Annaleigh thinks, _I think the gamemakers wanted to even the playing field. It might not seem fair for the careers, but it is fair to everyone else. Come to think of it..._

"The following year, Solaria mentored, but I just hate the game elements they added. Why the heck would you add a doll and a mirror in a mansion!? Yeah sure, the arena is cool, but it's wicked strange!"

 _The audience must've seen more entertainment than gore these past years, huh._

"The year after had too much earthquakes! Back when I was little, we didn't have earthquakes. Yes, the gamemakers would slightly flood a specific area of the arena, or they would burn a part of the forest, but an earthquake!? Even worse, it's on the whole arena!"

 _It's creative to be honest. Fair for all too._

"They could've just done the earthquake on the boring people. My tribute lost her sword from the fissure from the earthquake, and ended up weaponless. No wait, she had bow and arrows, but she didn't know how to use it!" Ace facepalms. "I wasn't chosen volunteer in my days, and I won. This girl, I had so much faith in, but she wasn't versatile enough!"

 _That's her fault, but losing her sword has got to be just bad luck, yeah?_

"The year after was cold. The careers claimed the castle that year, and there were select careers who didn't go hunting for three days. They were keeping watch of their group's supplies, and their castle collapsed!"

 _Now that's bad luck. I remember the castle being made of ice, so it's no wonder the Seven boy killed the One girl and the Four girl just by 'setting it on fire.' What's even worse was its setting by the cliff._

Ace shakes her head. "They could've just made a normal castle instead of an ice one."

 _The careers shouldn't have stayed there._

"The 130th was okay. I just hate it when Reddeus outsmarts each and every member of the career alliance, on top of being the leader. Only one got away, but he also fell for the Ten boy's trap and died a slow and painful death."

 _We can't do anything with that. Reddeus Rocker was a threat from the beginning._

"The arena for the 131st was absolutely awful. I mean, how do they get lava and magma and use it as a major component of the arena!? We never had lava in an arena before the 131st. What's even worse was that the 12-year-old kid who got a one in training won that year's games. Like, how!?"

 _From an audience's perspective, I actually found the lava an awesome part of the arena._ Annaleigh then says, "I honestly wonder how Royce drove himself to the win."

"See!? Now you get what I mean. The 131st was rigged! It was rigged! A twelve-year-old who got a one can't just win like that! I hate it, ugh! As for the 132nd, there was acid during the bloodbath. If you noticed, careers usually stay on the cornucopia after the bloodbath, right?"

"Yeah."

"They were given a fucking time limit! Guess what happened."

"The acid came after five minutes."

"See!? It's not fair! The cornucopia should be the career alliance's fortress. What did they do to it? They destroyed it after five minutes. The Two boy and Four girl didn't make it out of the bloodbath as a result. It's so unfair! Instead of having a safe haven and an alliance of trained tributes, they lost their home and two of their allies. That's bullshit!"

Annaleigh backs off slightly out of shock. _The gamemakers probably wanted the careers moving and not hoarding all the supplies. I should take note of that if I become the leader. To be honest, the gamemakers are playing this smart, and it was a fun games to watch. Ace is probably just... pissed? Yeah she is. I have a good feeling she'll say the next one is the worst._

The 133rd was a complete disaster! It was the worst games in history! How could an autistic stutterer win the games!? I mean, he stutters, and it's not even cute! Then he's also autistic, or not, I dunno, I don't care. But he's a nerd! When do nerds like him win!? The whole games was absolutely stupid! The bloodbath was basically navigating your way out of the building. If you're one of the last three to finish, you fight to your death and proceed to the next round. It was like a gameshow! And that's bullshit!"

At this point, Annaleigh knows how mad Ace has gotten, ranting out every reason why District One doesn't win anymore.

"The final battle was the worst. Imagine being in the top two, and you only get electrocuted because your opponent has a better memory. The finale was a memory game! It was a fucking memory game! Isn't that bullshit!?"

 _The games were fun to watch actually, but I can tell how you're frustrated from them. You're better off as an audience, Ace._ Annaleigh doesn't say a word while she twiddles her thumbs while still listening to Ace.

"The 134th? Another District Three win in a row! I mean, yeah sure, Lorenzo Delcroix wasn't your typical nerd, but he decapitated Eigengrau's tribute in the bloodbath." Ace buries her face with her hands. "How the fuck do you decapitate a trained tribute in the bloodbath!? That was horrendously ridiculous! What's even worse was that he won. And now he has a new victor he calls sister! What the fuck!"

 _I gotta admit that Lorenzo's method of killing Diamond was very clever. The way he got away was clever too. The arena and the bloodbath twist was just to his favor._

"Niccolo's last year as head gamemaker: The 135th Hunger Games. He wasted so much time on such a horrible arena! How... like... how the fuck do you get dozens of quintillions of water to make an arena!? Who told you the ocean is yours to make it an arena with an "abandoned" city below it!? That's so against the environment! All that water is not fair for us! We're not District Four, but we started training some tributes to swim after that. That was so idiotic for Niccolo, but I'm glad he's gone now."

 _I actually loved Paxipaz! The underwater city was so cool, and the many different boats were awesome. Again, this is from an audience perspective. Ace still hates this._

"The 136th Games was by this freaky newbie who decided that a desert arena bigger than last year's ocean arena was gonna be the best idea ever. The aftermath? He couldn't control his shit. It was the year Eigengrau and I thought we'd bring home a victor. Thea was a strong contender."

"Strengthea Wessentre!" Annaleigh exclaims.

"Yes! She was in the final two! She only lost because we couldn't sponsor her anything in the end. She ended up with a lawn mower, a fucking lawn mower in the middle of the Continental Desert! Cyrus from Two had a monster truck for the love of Snow, so of course he won! That was unfair! I swear I thrashed my house that night."

"Even I thought Thea would win."

Ace shakes her head. "Verse was a strong contender too. She had an unorthodox strategy, not sticking with the careers for long. It served her good, but teenagers are still teenagers because she fucking fell in love with Woodrow! All he had to do was push her to this gigantic spider web, and she's gone! Bullshit!"

"Verse was blinded by love."

"I hope you won't be! The year after that was on another stupid arena."

 _Hey! I love Skylock Park._

"The amusement park had a cable car, and a pair of thirteen-year-olds had control over it. The result? The careers decided to get out of the cable car and crawl their way to the end, but these thirteen-year-olds knew better by cutting off the cable wires. It was an absolute disaster! Thirteen-year-olds are worthy of the place called the bloodbath! How did they survive and kill all six of the careers!? That was so unfair! It was utter bullshit!"

Annaleigh remembers that year. The District Two Male told everyone to crawl their way to land, and the District One Female disagreed with him. Annaleigh is making a mental note to defy the career leader's orders and let critical thinking take over.

"Last year's games were much better, but the fact that another District Three tribute won is already bias on the Capitol's part. We were the favorite! What happened!?"

 _I don't think it's bias. It's probably just coincidence._

"Well, long story short: Please win for me, and for the district. We don't know what the bloodbath twist will be, but I hope you can start strategizing with what you think it can be based on the past arenas I just ranted about. I can give you some tips, but I'm guessing they'll just be redundant."

"Uh... probably?"

"It doesn't matter. You can ask me if you need help." Ace makes a hand gesture to call the avox's attention. "Afternoon tea."

"Isn't it a bit too early for afternoon tea?"

"It's still after noon, technically."

The avox brings Ace her afternoon tea.

"You're dismissed, Annaleigh. Just come if you need help. I'm already stressed as early as now."

"Okay." With that, Annaleigh moves to the train car with the mini library. She checks the shelves, and then she finds a few books about the past games. _Time for me to strategize a winning combo._

* * *

AN:

Amazing news: Cards of Mortality turns 1 today! :D

Bad news: I'm gonna put this story on the backseat again. :/ I think I'm following too many stories, so I'll need to put this on a month-long hiatus. Next time, I'll need to control myself on the stories I'll be participating in. That's quite easier said than done though.

If you haven't noticed, I'm adding more world building while developing the mentors' characters on train rides. I'll definitely do the same on the last set of train rides. Oh also, any criticism or unanswered question from past reviews are mostly shown on the train ride chapters.

Next chapter will be stylists' introductions, orientation, and competition. Since there's a gameshow on the next chapter, expect it to be a long one.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)


	23. Stylist Orientation: Fashion Competition

Alistair is on his electronic tablet, viewing through each stylist's profile. He exits the profile he was viewing to sort the names in alphabetical order, by last name. After doing that is the time he views through each profile once more. The two other gamemakers and four stunters he's with are talking with each other or minding their own businesses. On Alistair's tablet is a list form of all the stylists. Their surnames and their nicknames are the file names of their profiles.

Bandarras, DeeDee  
Baux, Mavine  
Burnelia, Tasrita  
Deja, Valtron  
Fern, Bonita  
Gogogogh, Anino  
Itis, Valentine  
Kale, Chay  
Lierro, Totochan  
MacMaquinMash, Canvas  
Morwan, Latisha  
Roggaddot, Rogue  
Skyavich, Anakyn  
Speculoos, Concordia  
Spiros, Belvedere  
Tisho, Marjorita  
Traversal, Trav  
Tristen, Belle  
Tristen, Sophia  
Tristen, Valerie  
Umbra, Scalar  
Umbra, Vector  
Valkyrie, Ganymede  
Yndeegaux, Spring

Not long after, they have all arrived in the Remake Center. The tributes have not yet arrived by this time. Twenty-four stylists await inside the center, where Alistair enters with Al and Genji.

"Good afternoon everyone!" starts Alistair. "As you all know, you're here today because this is your time to shine. This is your opportunity to showcase your skills, talents, art. By successfully applying as a stylist, Doctor President expects all of you to do your best in making the tributes' outfits."

A few stylists look at each other, some in a competitive way while others in a jealous manner.

"Now, we'll be introducing a twist right off the bat. As some of you might have experienced in the past years, you were assigned tributes to style. However this year, we're giving you the opportunity to pick your own tribute."

Some of the stylists react in excitement. A few stay silent and listen.

"Here's how it works." Alistair signals the four stunters to enter the center. "Each of you will draw a card as to which of this year's games stunters you will be making an arena outfit proposal for. Each of them has a specific theme in them, so be careful with how you will design their outfits." Alistair takes out some cards from his pocket and shows them to the stylists. "There are twenty-four cards in all with four different images. The card you pick will determine which stunter you will be proposing an outfit for. All of them will judge your work, but the stunter you will be styling for will be giving you seventy percent of the rating. The other three will each give you ten percent for the rest of the rating. The stylist with the best rating will be the first to pick a tribute, while the stylist with the worst rating will be defaulted to the last remaining tribute."

Alistair gives them two to three minutes to prepare, while he also prepares the cards on his hand by placing them properly so they don't fall off easily.

"Hmmm... let's start with the eldest stylist. Shall we?"

A pink haired woman that looks like she's in her mid-forties raises her hand. She then moves forward to select a card. She fixes her square-framed eyeglasses, and she's wearing a white blazer along with white slacks.

 **Rogue Roggaddot, 63**

 _"My name is Rogue and I'm sixty-three. I've been styling tributes for almost twenty years. I know how to handle tributes of different backgrounds, so this year shouldn't be any different."_

Rogue draws a card from Alistair's hand of twenty-four cards. She shows it to everyone, which has a picture of brown skinned woman.

"That's Halizeia. Next please."

As Rogue goes back to her position, a woman with fake flaming hair moves forward to pick a card. She has a darker skin tone, and she sashays with her long black trench coat, black leggings, and black diamond high heels.

 **Tasrita Burnelia, 57**

 _"The name is Tasrita, but people call me Nurse Burnz. I love playing with fire, and I am a registered nurse."_

She picks a card from Alistair's hand, and shows a picture of a guy in shades.

"Lucius. Next please."

A tall man wearing a tuxedo with pale brown skin and a slim build moves forward. He has brown eyes, as well as shaven short dark hair shot through with gray.

 **Valentine Itis, 51**

 _"Greetings! I am Valentine Itis. I am artistic with an eye for beautiful detail. I have the ability to let tributes relax and feel at ease around me."_

He picks a card from the end of Alistair's hand. He shows the card with a picture of a blue-haired teenager to everyone.

"Titan."

"Awww, yes!" says Titan.

"Next up."

A tall skinny man with bluish-gray skin and blood red lips moves forward. He has neat dark blue hair with lime streaks and wears a pair of glasses. Besides his neat shirt and dress pants, he is wearing a golden necklace with a small pendant and his wedding ring.

 **Belvedere Spiros, 50**

 _"I am Belvedere Spiros. I love my job, my husband, and my three dogs."_

He picks a card from Alistair's hand, and he shows a picture of a middle-aged woman for all to see.

"Eltha. Next please."

A tall yellow-skinned woman with translucent black sleeves and leggings makes her way forward. She wears a headband for antennae, big white insect wings, and a coat patterned with yellow and black stripes. She fixes her big white rubber gloves as she picks a card.

 **Maria Mavina Heatherlone-Baux, 48**

 _"Mavine. Honey lover."_

"Titan's second stylist. Next."

A woman walks angelically as she places the back of her left palm on her right elbow while twisting her right wrist to wave to everyone. She has bright yellow hair with golden streaks and an angelic smile like no other. She wears a dress checkered with light orange and light blue.

 **Concordia Speculoos-Specular, 47**

 _"Hi! My name is Concordia, and I love to bake cookies."_

She carefully plucks out a card.

"Titan, again. Next."

A short woman wearing diamond blue heels and oversized butterfly wings steps forward. She then moves forward realizing that she is indeed next. She also wears an antennae headband like Mavine, shiny blue gloves, and a purple coat to match her skin color.

 **Kate Daphne Korbin-Bandarras, 46**

 _"My name is Kate, but I'm better known as DeeDee. I love being a butterfly, even though I'm too old for that theme."_

She thinks before carefully picking a card from Alistair's hand.

"This belongs to Halizeia. Next up."

A silver-skinned man dressed in various shades of gray makes his way forward with his gray staff. He has a gray top hat, gray contacts lenses, gray lips, gray watch, gray gloves, and a classic formal outfit also in the color gray. His contact lenses can't be seen though, due to his thick black shades.

 **Anino Gogogogh, 45**

 _"The name is Anino, and it means 'shadow.' If there's one thing I can tell a sad tribute, I'd tell him to go go gogh!"_

He carefully picks a card with two hands.

"Eltha. Next."

A woman wearing a silver armored bra and panty has a halberd and a shield with her. Her arms and legs are also stylishly armored with silver. Her long brown hair is covered with a golden helmet and she is wearing feathered wings.

 **Ganymede Valkyrie, 43**

 _"I love wearing stuff that are open! Haha! It makes me hot. My name is Ganymede, and I was an ugly boy. People might not even notice I'm trans."_

She brushes her fingers through the cards, and feels about picking the one.

"This is Lucius. Next."

A guy in a black tight suit snaps his fingers, and the science-fiction-esque lines of his tightsuit glows in changing neon colors. He has cyan hair and his eyes are patterned like the color wheel.

 **Valtron Deja, 42**

 _"Hi! I'm Valtron Deja. Let me introduce myself. I'm Valtron Deja. My name is Valtron Deja. Nice to meet you. Deja, Valtron Deja. Hello! Valtron Deja is here to save the day." He then whispers, "Am I not annoying?"_

He pinches on a card, then releases it. Pinches on another card, then releases it. When Alistair's brows furrowed, he picked the card he was pinching at that moment.

"Lucius, again. Moving on."

Up next, a short dark-skinned woman with brown eyes, as well as brown hair with blue streaks, moves towards Alistair. She wears a fluffy white patterned dress, long white gloves, and a white fedora.

 **Totochan Lierro, 35**

 _"My name is Totochan, and I love hats and gloves! They're the awesomest things you can wear."_

She quickly picks a card, and it's a picture of...

"Eltha. Next."

A tall man with a light beige skin tone and lapis blue eyes is the next to approach Alistair. His hair is sandy blonde, almost shoulder-length. It has streaks of various shades of brown, orange, red, and gold. The colors even change with different lighting and angles. He also has a temporary midnight blue tattoo on the left side of his face, and a permanent sleeve tattoo on his right arm. He wears a black and bright-orange sleeveless leather top with dark brown arrow-shaped leather clasps and silver buttons, a navy blue long-sleeved shirt underneath, black leggings, and chocolate brown ankle boots. He carefully picks a card.

 **Anakyn Skyavich, 34**

 _"My name is Anakyn Skyavich. I am thirty-four years old, and I am a part-time mechanic, part-time model, and formerly an escort."_

"Titan. Next."

A bald dark-skinned man wearing copper ring around his head (like a planet) is the next to select a card. He has eyes that are half-light-green and half-light-blue due to altercations. He wears a white polo shirt with polka dots of different colors and a pair of gray shorts along with loafers.

 **Canvas MacMaquinMash, 32**

 _"I am Canvas, and I like to color my food. I enjoy cooking and baking too."_

He picks a card near the center, and he gets...

"Lucius. Next."

A short overweight man with curly bronze hair sashays to Alistair. He blinks his teal eyes then winks his left one as he makes a kissing sound with his pink and orange lips. He fixes his brown suit and red tie.

 **Charlie Kale, 31**

 _"HI! My name is Charlie Kale, but you can call me CHAY! I love men, hot naked MEN! My parents disowned me a long time ago for being GAY, but I got a scholarship to fashion school. AHAHAHA!"_

He looks at Alistair with a creepy perverted smile, then he picks a card.

"Halizeia. Moving on."

Two people who look similar walk forward. They silently question themselves who is the older one among them. The one that moved forward is a female with crimson red hair with scarlet streaks and green eyes. She is wearing a red blouse tucked in a pair of black slacks and shiny pink high heels.

 **Scalar Ant Umbra, 30**

 _"The name is Scalar. Don't call me Ant. I'm determined to beat my brother again this year!"_

"Lucius. Next up."

The male who has a sky blue hair with sea blue streaks walks forward as his sister goes back to her position.

"You have no direction," he says softly.

"Shut up!" she replies softly.

His green eyes fixate on the cards on Alistair's hand. He wears a bright blue suit and a bright red tie along with bright blue slacks and black shoes over his red socks. He carefully selects a card.

 **Vector Pen Umbra, 30**

 _"Hi! I'm Vector. I am Scalar's fraternal twin brother, and I love what I'm doing. My sister is too competitive, but all I care about is the magnitude and direction of my job." He then winks._

"Ah!" he says softly as he pulls out the card from Alistair's hand.

"Eltha. Next."

A tall lady with black hair and light skin moves forward. She gracefully moves with her purple ball gown and she wears it as if she's attending someone's wedding. She is thin with purple eyes.

 **Latisha Morwan, 29**

 _"I'm Latisha, and I love having a fashionable bottom! The one on top doesn't really matter."_

She gracefully picks a card with the picture of...

"Titan. Next."

A thin man wearing a black coat over a black shirt along with black slacks moves forward. He has shiny spiky white hair and shiny white eyes from altercation. He wears a golden chained necklace too as well as white shoes.

 **Svwyevwhrierl Traversal, 27**

 _"Swvuvwu... Swyevru... Svwry... ugh. Just call me Trav. I'm dyslexic, but my parents wanted to give me a very unique name. I don't stutter but I can't even pronounce it!"_

He quickly chooses a card.

"Titan. That's the last of it."

"Woohoo!" Titan reacts.

"Next up."

An amber-eyed lady wearing a dress made of leaves sashays to Alistair. She has an indigo flower headdress on top of her straight dark blue hair. She also has green sandals on.

 **Springaling Yndeegaux, 25**

 _"My name is Spring. I love nature. You'll know if you've been to the forest. I also love adventure, and whatever I think is fun for me."_

She picks a card at one end, and she gets...

"Eltha. Moving on."

A thin and tall woman with fair skin is next. She is the person who will pick one of the last five cards on Alistair's hand. She has blue eyes with gold flecks and red hair, while her face is dotted with freckles. She wears a simple and short violet sundress.

 **Marjorita Tisho, 23**

 _"The games are wonderful, aren't they!? I also like simplicity." There comes a pause. "Oh, and my name is Marjorita Tisho."_

She picks a card, and Alistair says the name of the person on the card.

"Eltha. Next."

A tall, slender, and graceful woman with long flowing pink hair walks up next. She has amber eyes and medium brown skin, and she is wearing a long flowing light pink dress with plenty of floral motifs along with her lei of pink flowers.

 **Belle Tristen, 23**

 _"I'm Belle, and I love pink and flowers! I will dress tributes just like the way I dress myself, beautifully."_

She picks, and it's...

"Halizeia. Let's, next please."

A small and chubby woman with medium brown skin and hazel eyes is next. She wears a pair of round blue eyeglasses and her fizzy medium-length hair is colored blue. She wears her signature light blue sweater with a dark blue star on it along with her shirt underneath and a pair of light blue sweatpants.

 **Sophia Tristen, 23**

 _"I'm Sophia, and my favorite color is blue, while my favorite shape is a star. I believe analysis is the way to play the game smart."_

She picks among the last three cards and gets...

"Halizeia too. Next up."

A muscular average-height woman with short red hair, medium brown skin, and dark brown eyes is next. She wears a dark red wristband, a red tank top, and a pair of red shorts. The latter two of which have heart motifs on them.

 **Valerie Tristen, 23**

 _"I'm Valerie, and my red color represents strength, power, and determination! I will rise above the competition!" She bumps both her fists and it somehow forms a heart._

She picks the card on her right, and she gets to style for...

"Halizeia, again. Which means, Bonita, you will be defaulted to Lucius. Don't worry, you still have a long way to go with styling."

The woman with genetically altered orange eyes and waist-length curly bright red hair nods upon that. She has lightly tanned skin, orange cat ears, and a flexible orange tail. She wears an orange cocktail dress with her glittering orange heels.

 **Bonita Fern, 20**

 _"Yay, I'm still a stylist, meow! I'm Bonita Fern, and I like things that are bright, very bright."_

"Now that everyone has a stunter to style, we're giving you all sixty minutes to get to your work desks and prepare your stunter an outfit for the games. Your time starts... now!"

With that, all twenty-four stylists proceed to their stations at the deeper end of the room. On each of their work desks are a set of additional general instructions, a separate set of instructions for their stunter's criteria and preferences, a computer to model the dress, and a hologram to display their modeled outfit.

 **Kate Daphne Korbin-Bandarras, 46**

"So I got Halizeia, and it says here that I need to make the main colors green and or brown. Hmmm..."

 **Vector Pen Umbra, 30**

"For Eltha, the colors must be blue or light blue. I guess I can't go for darker colors, but maybe royal blue is good?"

 **Svwyevwhrierl Traversal, 27**

"Titan's attire must be, uh... w-w-white and uh... l-l-light, light g-green, light green and white! I think he likes capes."

 **Tasrita Burnelia, 57**

"Lucius needs red and orange. Perfect! He's gonna be hot, hot, HOT!" She pauses a while. "Why do I have a feeling that somebody said this before?"

 **Charlie Kale, 31**

"I wish I was styling for a guy. He could be hot all he wants, hihihi!"

With the provided software, he starts drawing his outfit proposal to Halizeia. He starts with the brown sandals and goes up from there.

"Maybe if she likes it revealing, that'd be great."

 **Valentine Itis, 51**

"Not every outfit has to be extravagant as long as it's elegant. I also dislike revealing clothing, so I can only hope that Titan will be fine with slacks, shirt, and coat."

He drags a pre-made pair of black slacks from the sidebar to the center. He also selects a black shirt to go with the blue coat.

"It won't be hard to move with that."

 **Anino Gogogogh, 45**

"If I'm required to do light blue, then I guess that works."

He fixes the style of the light blue dress with the software. It is strapless, but he also designed intricate white sleeves that are separated from the dress.

 **Canvas MacMaquinMash, 32**

He paints a tight suit with red and orange, and the colors mix sometimes in an asymmetric way.

"It looks like fire by design."

 **Scalar Ant Umbra, 30**

"Lucius probably wants a tight suit, then I'll give him a red blazer and orange slacks for formality. He can just take them off if he needs to do some stunt."

She then realizes that the tight suit can't be plain black.

 **Latisha Morwan, 29**

"Titan is getting a fancy white blazer and a pair of white slacks. He can have the green tie too. Easy."

She renders the thing, and it comes out in the hologram.

"Maybe I can add a cape or two."

 **Rogue Roggaddot, 63**

"A simple green dress will actually do, then we just need to add branches for sleeves."

She rereads the specifications.

"Yes, branches for sleeves. The golden belt can go with the dress, and she can wear silver sandals with the rest of the outfit."

 **Springaling Yndeegaux, 25**

She still has nothing set. She takes a dress and tries to change its form a bit, but she scraps it and panics.

"I don't know if this will pass."

She takes another dress, then scraps it again and starts over.

"I don't know anymore."

 **Belvedere Spiros, 50**

He renders the sea blue dress to the hologram. It goes all the way to the heels. He likes it simple like that.

"Maybe a little bit of lighter blue towards the bottom, so it will look like a gradient. No, it will be a gradient."

He goes back to the computer to fix it.

 **Belle Tristen, 23**

"I wanna use pink though."

On the computer screen, it is shown that she's making a dress with several layers of green. It is translucent towards the bottom. She adds a laced layer of pink full of flowers.

"I'm gonna make that optional."

 **Concordia Speculoos-Specular, 47**

"I know Titan loves capes!"

She's making a shiny silver cape. The blazer and the pair of slacks are also silver. The tie is light green though.

 **Bonita Fern, 20**

She's making a dress that is neon red and neon orange. The colors seem to mix asymmetrically.

"I think this will work nice. Just need to add some accessories here and there."

 **Anakyn Skyavich, 34**

Although white, the outfit he is making is made to be "invisible." The outfit is a tight long-sleeved shirt along with a tight pair of pants. There are "wings" on the long-sleeved shirt, which may look like a cape in a way.

"I thought of something utilitarian in both function and design."

 **Sophia Tristen, 23**

"I'm thinking of something that can appeal the stunter herself."

On her screen is a sparkling gold tightsuit with a big star on the center.

 **Marjorita Tisho, 23**

"A simple ice blue dress. Bingo!"

 **Valtron Deja, 42**

On his screen is a brown tightsuit with red orange lines. It forms some sort of futuristic pattern.

"I hope this is good."

 **Ganymede Valkyrie, 43**

An orange sleeveless shirt with red flares is rendered to the hologram.

"Maybe I can use the same pattern for the pants."

 **Valerie Tristen, 23**

"She needs some makeup to make her look more fierce."

On the hologram is a sparkling golden brown tightsuit with a headdress made of leaves.

"Hmmm..."

 **Totochan Lierro, 35**

On the hologram is a sparkling ice blue dress with a translucent pale blue cape. There's also a dark blue sun hat, a pair of ice blue gloves, and glass slippers.

"Oh! What if... it's a crown instead?"

 **Maria Mavina Heatherlone-Baux, 48**

"It's ready!"

On her hologram is something that looks like a supersuit. It's light green all around, with a light green cape. There's a silver mask, and also a silver "underwear" over the pants.

After what looks like almost an hour, Alistair starts counting down.

"Ten..."

Sophia Tristen moves the star's position on the tightsuit.

"Nine..."

DeeDee Korbin-Bandarras adds more green to the glittering fairy dress while she renders the fairy wings to the hologram.

"Eight..."

Tasrita Burnelia renders to the hologram a red jacket along with a pair of red jogging pants. She renders the flaring hair too.

"Seven..."

Vector Umbra is ready with his royal blue ball gown over royal blue sports bra and royal blue leggings.

"Six..."

Chay Kale renders out the rusty-looking metallic bra and panty covered with moss, to add to the brown sandals that are ready.

"Five..."

Trav Traversal prepares to render a light green long-sleeved polo with a white vest and black slacks along with sparkling light green cape.

"Four..."

Spring Yndeegaux panics as she adds flowers around the light blue dress.

"Three..."

Valentine Itis is also ready with his white slacks, white shirt, and light green coat for Titan. He's glad he noticed his mistake before it was too late.

"Two..."

Valerie is ready with a different outfit that is still fierce.

"One..."

While Bonita Fern's neon red and neon orange dress is ready on the hologram, she facepalms upon rereading the instructions.

"Times up! Whatever is on your hologram is what will be presented to our stunters and judges."

Al, Genji, and Alistair collect the data from the holograms via flash drive.

* * *

"I wonder what we have to see today!" Halizeia excitedly.

They were informed that the first six would be Eltha's outfits, followed by Halizeia's, then Lucius', and finally Titan's.

 **Belvedere Spiros, 50**

Belvedere Spiros is the first to present. The hologram then shows his work.

"Good afternoon!"

"Good afternoon!" some judges reply.

"Can you tell us what you prepared for Eltha?" Halizeia says.

"I have prepared a simple blue dress that slowly turns to lighter blue as it reaches the bottom. It goes all the way to the heels."

The next presenters are montaged.

 **Anino Gogogogh, 45**

"I have a strapless light blue dress with intricate white sleeves, which are translucent."

 **Totochan Lierro, 35**

"I present to you: my sparkling ice blue dress! It comes with a translucent pale blue cape, a pair of long ice blue gloves, a pair of glass slippers, and this big crown!"

 **Vector Pen Umbra, 30**

"I made a royal blue ball gown. However, in case of stunts, I prepared a royal blue sports bra along with royal blue leggings underneath the ball gown."

 **Springaling Yndeegaux, 25**

"I-I-I-I have a l-l-light blue d-dress, with pink flowers." She fakes a smile nervously.

 **Marjorita Tisho, 23**

"I prepared a simple ice blue dress, and it has frills here and there so it won't look too boring."

 **Rogue Roggaddot, 63**

"For you, daughter of the vice president, I have prepared a simple green dress with fake rolled branches for sleeves, along with a shiny gold belt and a pair of silver sandals.

 **Kate Daphne Korbin-Bandarras, 46**

"I have a pink and green dress with wings, inspired after... fairies."

 **Charlie Kale, 31**

"The brown sandals are the main part of the outfit. I just made you... an ARMOR for your underwear. EHIHIHI! That's fake rust and fake moss by the WAY."

 **Belle Tristen, 23**

"It is a dress with several layers of green, and it's translucent towards the bottom. This last layer is optional, but it's also transparent, and it's pink with flowers."

 **Sophia Tristen, 23**

"I made you a simple but sparkling gold tightsuit. Now it looks simple on the outside, but did you know that it can shoot stars like this?" Sophia presses a button from the remote and gold stars sparkle out from the dress like a 4D movie.

 **Valerie Tristen, 23**

"It's... a leopard-patterned tightsuit, and over here is a sample makeup for you to look more... fierce!"

 **Tasrita Burnelia, 57**

"Red jacket." She points at it. "Red jogging pants." She points at it too. "But most importantly..." She presses a button from the remote and the top part that's supposed to be the hair that is on (fake) fire.

 **Ganymede Valkyrie, 43**

"I give you... an orange sleeveless shirt with pants, and they have red flares around them. Pretty cool huh?"

 **Valtron Deja, 42**

"The tightsuit may be brown, but..." He presses a remote button and the outfit looks futuristic as red and orange neon light lines glow patterned around the suit.

 **Canvas MacMaquinMash, 32**

"So... um... I... uh... made the... uh... tightsuit with the... uh... I mean, uh, I painted it with red and orange before I... uh... rendered it." He clears his throat nervously.

 **Scalar Ant Umbra, 30**

"On the outside, it's a red blazer with orange slacks for a formal look, but in case of stunts, you can rip them off and show off this crimson red tightsuit."

 **Bonita Fern, 20**

She nervously presents, "Uh... I thought it was a girl who I'm presenting for."

Her neon red and neon orange dress is shown from the hologram, and it currently matches the colors of her hot cheeks.

"It's okay. Hahaha!" Lucius remarks. "Everybody makes mistakes."

 **Valentine Itis, 51**

"For Titan, we start with white slacks and a white shirt, layered with a light green coat on top."

 **Maria Mavina Heatherlone-Baux, 48**

She points at the... "Tightsuit. Light green." Then at the... "Cape. Light green." Followed by the... "Mask. Silver." And last but not the least, the... "Overwear. Silver."

 **Concordia Speculoos-Specular, 47**

"I made you a silver blazer with silver slacks. The tie may be gold, but I never forgot the most important part, the silver cape!"

 **Anakyn Skyavich, 34**

Anakyn presents with 'nothing' on the hologram. He presses a button and the all-white outfit appears. He then presents, "I present the invisible tight pants and tight shirt." He presses another remote button, and he explains, "The wings look like a cape, but given more time to engineer it, I can make you fly!"

 **Latisha Morwan, 29**

"That's a white blazer, and those are white slacks. There's also a light green tie, and a white cape over the light green one. Yeah, two capes."

 **Svwyevwhrierl Traversal, 27**

"It's a white vest over a light green long-sleeved polo, and then blacks slacks at the bottom. I didn't forget the sparkling light green cape though."

* * *

Halizeia says, "Let's start with Eltha. Which ones did you like?"

"Well," Eltha starts. "I think they're all good, but I like Totochan's the best. The whole outfit makes me feel like a queen."

"Is there something else you liked from other outfits?"

"The patterned sleeves were really cool. Adding that to my gloves and my overall outfit will make me feel more... royal. Is that the word?"

"Okay. That's nice to know. Titan?"

Titan replies, "I like Trav's outfit on me, but Anakyn's was the cream of the crop. Imagine if he does something like that to his chosen tribute."

"I know right! Anything you liked from the other outfits?"

"The cape! Some of these stylists seem to know that I really like capes. I like Latisha's double cape, but Trav's sparkling one is great too."

"I see. Lucius?"

Lucius clears his throat. "Not exactly the best, but I like Bonita's reaction. That was priceless!" They all laugh at it, yet some of them pity her for that embarrassing situation. "My favorite would probably be Tasrita's fiery hair on me. I'll need that."

"And..."

"For other outfits and what I liked from them, I... hmmm... I hate to say that I'm disappointed with what I got in general."

"Ooh."

"The cyber-like suit that Valtron made was really cool though."

"Oh, at least."

"How about you, Hal?" Titan asks.

"For me, I actually like the triplets' works and the fairy tale outfits. I gave those high marks."

"How about Mister Kale?" Lucius asks, trying to hold back laughter.

"Ugh. It was awful. I guess we can agree on that."

"Yeah," says Titan.

"Can't believe I'm giving someone a zero," Lucius adds.

"Anything that stood out though?" Eltha asks.

"Oh yeah! Rogue's gold belt and branches for sleeves are cool, the latter of which fits with my theme. I also like the translucent bottom part of the dress made by Belle. That was beautiful. And the stars! Who can argue with Sophia's outfit? It's eye-catching."

Alistair enters the room and says, "Well, I guess we're ready to compute everybody's ratings."

* * *

The twenty-four stylists watch the reaping recap while they wait for the results.

 **Valentine Itis, 51**

"If I can choose my tribute, I'd pick one of the younger ones. I might be able to work well with them."

 **Belvedere Spiros, 50**

"I'm actually fine with anyone, but I'd rather pick a tribute who has or loves dogs like me!"

 **Charlie Kale, 31**

"I love MEN! I love men that are cooperative. I prefer older boys, especially if they're from FOUR!"

 **Latisha Morwan, 29**

"To be honest, I don't really care who I get or what I give them, but I have my eyes on someone if ever."

 **Scalar Ant Umbra, 30**

"The only thing I really care about is beating my brother. Aside from that, I just hope I don't get that 'cancerous' kid from Ten."

 **Valtron Deja, 42**

"I can only wonder who I will get, again and again."

 **Belle Tristen, 23**

"Anybody with natural beauty is preferable, but someone who is not physically attractive can test my skills as a first timer."

 **Totochan Lierro, 35**

"I'm excited to pick my target tribute! I just hope I'm picking her first."

 **Concordia Speculoos-Specular, 47**

"District One will be the easiest for me. All I have to do is shine them spe'cularly!"

 **Sophia Tristen, 23**

"I wanna get someone smart. That way, we can both play with the angles in a very analytical way."

 **Rogue Roggaddot, 63**

"I don't really care who I get, but if I end up with that wild Ten kid, he's definitely not gonna get along with me, and I don't care if that's what it will come to."

 **Vector Pen Umbra, 30**

"I'd pick someone who has a direction and magnitude for the angle. It'd be a waste for me to make an outfit for someone who's dull, boring, and most of all indecisive."

 **Marjorita Tisho, 23**

"I'll take anyone and give them the simplest outfit I can, I guess. There's more to having less."

 **Anakyn Skyavich, 34**

"I have an idea as to whom I should pick, and I can also interrogate the escort once I have my target tribute."

 **Valerie Tristen, 23**

"I'd get the buff guy or girl if given the chance. I don't really care who I'd end up with though. This is me and my sisters' baptisms of fire."

 **Tasrita Burnelia, 57**

"Boy oh boy! I have my eyes on the hot kid, to make him HOTTER!"

 **Canvas MacMaquinMash, 32**

"I can work with anyone, but the artsier the tribute, the better we'll get along."

 **Springaling Yndeegaux, 25**

"I think I did awful. All that matters now is that I don't end up with the hot-tempered Five girl or the raging Ten boy. Nobody wants the Ten boy."

 **Anino Gogogogh, 45**

"..." Staring at the camera is all he did for his post-presentation interview.

 **Kate Daphne Korbin-Bandarras, 46**

"If I did awfully, I just don't want the Ten kid. Anybody but the Ten kid please."

 **Ganymede Valkyrie, 43**

"I'd love a transgender tribute, but those barely exist. They have, but not this year."

 **Svwyevwhrierl Traversal, 27**

"Anybody pathetic is my preference. Hahaha! We can pity each other together."

 **Maria Mavina Heatherlone-Baux, 48**

"The weirder, the better."

 **Bonita Fern, 20**

"If I end up with the Ten kid, I just hope I don't mistakenly give him a dress for his interview. I am so ashamed with remorse right now."

* * *

Eventually, all the stylists got called to assemble at the lobby of the Remake Center.

Alistair announces, "In a few minutes, the tributes for the 140th Hunger Games will be arriving. As you can hear, it's noisy outside with paparazzi. I hope each of you have your prep teams ready as well."

The prep teams are waiting at the big hall. Usually, the stylists look for them, but there are also a few cases wherein they're just assigned a prep team. It depends on the stylist whether they checked the 'I have a prep team' or 'I need a prep team' on their application forms.

"Now, I shall announce the winner of this competition, and the most powerful stylist in terms of tribute selection."

Alistair takes out a card from the small envelope.

"The stylist... who will pick among twenty-four tributes... is..."

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

…

To be continued…

* * *

AN:

The result of this small competition will be after the last train ride chapter, which is next btw. My update speed should pick up from here. This chapter was a challenge to write! It took me a week or more to work on this. I wouldn't even consider this my best work.

Some questions you can answer but don't really have to:  
~Any predictions with these stylists?  
~Who interested you and who didn't?  
~Anybody who stood out among the 24?  
~How about the writing style, what do you think about it?

I really feel like this chapter is choppy, but I enjoyed writing these stylists despite them being a challenge in general. Up next, we'll be visiting the D5, D6, D11, D12 tributes with their arrivals to the Capitol.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)


	24. Train Rides C: Wonders Through Time

Inside the District Eleven train, Calient chats with both tributes.

"And from there, I was thrown into the sky! You two should go to the circus when you get the chance."

"Um... can you bring us there before the games?" Owen asks.

"We'll see, kid. The circus is pretty far."

There is silence for a short while, then Calient shows his tributes photos of his time in the circus.

"This is during my first time in the circus. I wasn't that fiery yet."

The picture shows him and his colleagues on a unicycle act. He then swipes to the next picture.

"This is the one I was just talking about!"

It's a picture of him wearing a helmet while inside a cannon, getting ready to be launched. He swipes next once again.

"This one is the Globe of Death. You can't see me, but we ride our motorcycles inside and defy gravity."

He shows a picture of a large globe with motorcycles and motorcyclists inside. He swipes to the next picture to show his tributes a picture of him on top and outside of what seems like a Ferris wheel.

"And this? This is one of my favorites! It's my favorite non-pyro act actually."

After showing them his pictures, he puts his phone away and gets up from the sofa, leaving Owen and Poppy to each other.

"So..." Owen clears his throat. "So... I was wondering what life is at home for you."

Poppy replies, "Oh, I help my parents with the garden, and my brother is a farmhand. My brother treats me like a baby, which I wish he doesn't."

"It's okay. My sister is like that too. She's super worried about me wherever I go."

"I wish I knew more about stuff my family is covering up from me."

"Like?"

"Like tesserae."

"Oh." Owen comes up with a thought. "Tesserae are like lotto tickets. They must be hiding it from you because kids like us are not supposed to know about... gambling." He then thinks, _This kid should be easy to use._

"Oh!"

Before their conversation can continue, Calient comes back saying, "Your mentor is asleep as usual."

"Shouldn't he be mentoring us?" asks Poppy.

"Yeah," agrees Owen. "Since he's called a 'mentor' for a reason."

"Yeah, that's supposed to be his job, but I can do bits of that too. Where should I start?"

Owen says, "How about alliances?"

"Ooh! The key to that is just to present yourselves well to fellow tributes. You can openly ask them too whether they want to ally or not."

Poppy asks, "Is it good to have a big alliance?"

"If you ask me, I'll tell you to keep it around three to four members. That's not too many, yet not too few."

"Sounds good!" exclaims Owen.

"You two can be allies now."

"Oh we are?" Owen asks, pretending not to know.

"Yes, we're allies now." Poppy smiles upon that.

"Great! What other strategies are you interested to learn?"

"Our angle?" Poppy says unsurely.

"Ah! The angle is something both of you can strategize. I'll leave the two of you first to talk about your strategies while I go back to your mentor to see if he's sleeping or under influence again."

"Why would he be under influence?" Poppy asks.

"He drinks a lot. You can easily smell it once you enter his house."

"Why?"

"It's his games. It was a while back. I wasn't even born yet when he won his games. I don't know the whole story, but it's pretty depressing from how he's been acting for several years now. I mean, even before I became District Eleven's escort, he was already like this. If I remember correctly, his games was on a laboratory, where they experiment with genetic or biological mutations. Watching it on TV is probably gonna give you horror movie vibes."

The two can not completely relate to horror movies as neither of them had the chance to watch it, but they understand the meaning and feeling of horror.

"I'll be back," Calient says before he checks on Jakobbo.

"So..." Owen starts.

"I have an idea for our angle!" Poppy says excitedly.

"Go on."

"I want to show the audience that I - we - are calm and warm-hearted."

 _Inclusive, interesting. Warm-hearted? I can act that out._

"I also want to show them that we are determined to win this thing! We won't give up and we will focus on ourselves winning."

 _I like that idea, but both of us can't win, hehe._ "Cool! I think we can go with that angle."

"Yay! We're both in this together, and I will never betray you even if I have to."

 _Sounds even easier now. Hah!_ "Alright. You can count on me too!" Owen gives her a smile so bright that forces him to close his eyes. _Although, counting on me does not equate to me not betraying you._

"Yay! We have a deal."

They shake hands.

"We're not gonna be like that kid from Ten, Owen. What was his name, Kobe?"

"Oh Kobe! I was actually wondering if we can be allies with him."

"Really, why?"

"Someone aggressive like him can probably help us defend our team. Imagine if everybody's gonna be scared of him."

"Not the careers."

"But at least he'll distract us from them."

They both laugh. He realizes that he has just given away a plan. He hopes she won't notice the manipulation and using as part of that plan.

"Let's try to get him to our side on our first day of training."

"Deal."

Calient comes back and says, "He's not drunk."

"Hooray?" Owen says.

"He's on drugs though."

"Oh no!" Poppy reacts, knowing what drugs are at least.

"That can't be good," adds Owen.

"I already confiscated the other packets of drugs, so no more drugs for him."

"Yay!" they both exclaim in unison.

Calient looks at the window from his seat and sees a few tall buildings.

"Look outside!"

Poppy and Owen look outside the windows to see more buildings.

Calient says, "We're already here!"

"Hooray!" Owen says.

"Yippee!" reacts Poppy.

"Oh, to prepare you two, there is paparazzi outside, so please be careful as you exit the train and make your way to the Remake Center." They both nod, then Calient continues. "Once in the Remake Center, you will be greeted by your stylists. Please be nice to them, because they can help you with sponsoring and your angles. It is very important to show good reputation to anyone you meet on your time in these games. Alright?"

"Okay!" Owen agrees.

"Yes sir!" responds Poppy.

"Great! Can I get a warm hug from both of you?"

Without another word, they all have a group hug.

"I wonder who your stylists are. We'll be interacting with them on the next couple of days."

As Poppy looks at the window, she's both nervous and excited for the games. Nervous, because why would someone cheery want to be dead in the next few days? She is, however, excited to see a new perspective of the world.

 _Not everybody gets the chance to see the Capitol, and even though I'll be staying here for only a few days in a select few places, I want to enjoy what I will experience before the games. It'd be better if the games get cancelled and we can just have fun in the Capitol. It's a new place to explore, and I want to learn more about this place we call the Capitol._

Owen, on the other hand, looks neutral, but feels worried deep inside. Volunteering for Layle and then joining the games is part of his plan. Keeping Poppy to his side is another plan. His plans have succeeded so far, but he can't help but wonder about his past. He and his other family members were once a happy family altogether. He and Quinn were troublesome and mischievous twins. Now, he tries to erase Quinn from his memory. He only wants to keep good memories, and remembering Quinn is a bad idea. Before Quinn's whipping to death though, his parents died from a farming accident. Both unfortunate events were out of his control, even his depression right after them. Later on, he realized that he can only get up by himself and somehow start over.

 _Manipulating people is not only my escape from these bad things. It's also part of my living now. Heck, it made me stop the tesserae. It doesn't matter now if that's a bad thing. In the end, I helped my sister feed ourselves. It was hard, but we did it. Now that I'm gone again, she's gonna be worried as usual. I hope she can find her own ways to feed herself more, because without me bringing food home, I don't know how much she'll starve._

He puts aside the concern for now. He focuses on the games instead by this time. The train may not yet be near the Remake Center, but they are all in the Capitol already.

* * *

"I'm sorry," says District Twelve mentor Larry Rockenstein.

Dante simply remains silent. He's been listening, but all Larry has been talking about are his regrets during his years as mentor.

"You know, I didn't know anything about bombs. When Arbo was inside the lab with orbs, I was so excited that I thought he could win. But then, who knew it was locked? Who knew the thirteen-year-old kid from District Three named Sparky would lock him up there?"

 _Sparky sounds like a dog's name,_ thinks Dante.

"Well, he was killed by the One male eventually, but maybe if I knew more about the twists in the games and the bomb as well as the locks, maybe I could've saved him."

Dante looks at Larry wide-eyed, while Larry just stares at the floor, still blabbering about his regrets.

"If I could change one thing in my games, I would've sacrificed myself. Being a mentor is so hard when none of your kids are winning."

 _So... I don't have any hope with you?_ Dante doesn't dare say it. It's not in his nature to speak about something he is not confident about.

"I didn't know my arena was about an abandoned city, something that was known as New York City, but on a roulette. My district partner, Hokori, was a year older than me. She had a better chance to come home than I did, but she got crushed by two buildings while the roulette was moving. Her eyes popped out."

Larry glances to Dante for a while, then he stares at the floor once again.

 _I'm listening._ Dante doesn't have the courage to say it. _I wish you can talk about the chariot angle._

"Anyway, I wasn't supposed to win. I never got a kill. My dying allies made the kills. I was useless, yet I won. I have nobody to come back to, and now I'm here." Larry sighs aloud. "I wish I could bring someone home soon."

 _If you mentor me instead of telling your regrets, maybe you can bring me home, but even without doing so, maybe you won't._ Dante not speaking up is not helping either of them in their respective situations.

"Oh what am I doing? I should be talking about my days with a co-mentor."

 _I guess I'm literally on my own in these games._ Dante looks at the window and sees that they are already in the Capitol.

"Back then, I used to have a co-mentor. Her name was Lucille. She was the only mentor of Twelve that time, because our district was never really blessed with a lot of victors. There was Katniss and Peeta, and Haymitch, but they were long gone during the Mockingjay Rebellion. We didn't have a mentor for the next couple of years."

Dante wonders about the Mockingjay Rebellion, but he doesn't really care about it now. It's not gonna help him in the games anyway.

"Lucille was the victor of the 89th, and she mentored alone until I won, but I was useless."

Dante sighs softly. _Don't worry, I'm useless too._

"She passed away after the 137th, and now I'm alone. Her tributes always had a chance. They sometimes even reach the top half. My tributes, I always thought that it was my fault they never had a chance."

 _So I won't have a chance? I guess I'll just accept that._ Dante looks down in hopelessness.

"Sometimes I wonder who among us is more useless, me or Jak. Jak is the only victor and mentor of District Eleven. He won the 99th Games, but he's been traumatized for life. All he does is sleep. He doesn't even eat sometimes."

Larry scratches his brown hair, while Dante still listens to him attentively.

"Does he drink? Yes he does. Mentors like him, like me, are prone to buying drugs and consuming them. I've never gotten into drugs, don't worry. Jak, I don't think so too."

Dante thinks, _I prefer listening to the escort. She's better than Larry to be honest._

"I think I've said enough. I told Corinna the same thing, well, perhaps almost the same thing. Do you have any questions? Corinna had a lot."

 _Now is my chance to ask about strategies, but maybe my angle is more important._ Finally, Dante speaks up, "Ch-chariot angle."

"Hmmm..." Larry thinks, rubbing his chin. "I remember waving to the crowd, and it got me some attention."

 _Thanks for the tip. I don't like attention._

"Anything else? Wow, I'm quite surprised how contrasting you and your district partner are. That girl is so talkative she doesn't know when to stop. I hope Evezleya is handling her fine."

 _Better than your monologue, sir._ Dante clears his throat. "Strategy?"

"Easy. Get as many allies as you want. I won my games only because my allies saved me, as I've told you earlier. One of them lost three fingers. Another turned purple."

"W-what if I don't want any allies?"

"Why so?"

Dante doesn't speak as he collects his thoughts. _How do I say that I prefer my own company? I mean, I'm not shy, but I don't want to be with people. Why is it so hard for me to say it?_ Dante clears his throat once more. "Because... because I can take care of myself."

"Oh really!? I wish I was you."

 _Uh, thanks?_ He continues, "I have used a crossbow." He nervously remembers that he has used it, but he asks himself, _Can I really use it?_

"Oh you have!?" Larry's face brightens up. _It's about time I bring someone home._

"Yeah," says Dante nervously.

"Good for you. For me, I was only... uh... I was only... a market boy."

"I... I hunt food with my friend."

"You're cool! There aren't a lot of hunters in the district now, in fear of following Katniss' footsteps, to death. I think it's a superstition, but with you here, I don't really know."

Silence, as the two has paused from talking.

"You should get some rest before we reach the Capitol. I'm gonna take a break from talking too."

Dante lets out a loud sigh after Larry moves to the next train car. _I only need myself, and I'm good._

Meanwhile with Evezleya, Corinna seems to be enjoying her time with the escort.

"You would make a great speaker! Imagine one day, when you win these games, you become the next master of ceremonies. How about that?"

"I still don't know. I mean, I can always try my best with this winning, but like you said, part of it is luck."

"I know, I know. What if you win, what do you plan to do?"

"I will be... a victor. Yeah, a victor! I'll get to go around the districts on the tour, so I can explore more places. Sounds fun, right?"

"Aha haha! You will surely be a victor if you win, but what will you do after the tour?"

Corinna thinks. She tries to come up with an answer, but she only responds with, "Go home?"

"You'd be in the Victory Village by then." Evezleya classily sips some tea from teacup. "Want more orange tea?"

Corinna shakes her head and says, "No thank you."

Evezleya pours some tea from the teapot to her teacup. "It has been fun being here. You see, I was the master of ceremoies in the past because I love speaking. I used to be a news anchor, a gameshow host, a commentator, and more. I've been speaking for my whole life, and then all I do is just speak in front of the stage during the reapings."

"What do you do when there's no games?"

"I go on vacation from this escorting job! I still speak, don't worry."

"So you still earn money just for speaking?"

"Yes darling! After these games, we're going to make you a very famous speaker. Oh, you have to win first, but we can still help you be a speaker in another dimension."

"Another dimension?"

Evezleya pauses for a moment and realizes what she had just said. "It's... another world."

"There's another world besides ours?"

 _Whoops Sylvia! Wrong usage of words. Maybe I should keep my mouth shut, but I can't not answer to this kid's curiosity._ Evezleya sips from her teacup in a classy manner, then says, "You will know more once you're victor! Basically, when you are victor, you can travel around different places. I call these small worlds, or dimensions!"

Corinna is astonished. There's so much going on in her head.

 _I can ask if I answered her question, but I can strengthen the point instead!_ She adjusts her flowing ribbons. "In another world, it's not gonna be like District Twelve, or if you've seen from your window, the Capitol. If you go to another place, like maybe outside this small world, you'll see snow, snow covering the whole ground, sometimes even ice. Have you ever wondered what's outside Panem?"

"I have, actually. If you go very far outside Panem, they say you're gonna fall off into a void."

Evezleya stares at Corinna. _Is this what they teach kids in Panem today?_ She touches her ribbons again. "Darling, who told you about this?"

"My teacher, but it's also in our books."

 _Is this serious!? I have to go to the library, maybe tomorrow. What the hell are they feeding to the citizens!? This is mad. No, this is insane!_ "Darling, I really want to disagree with you, but I will collect my sources first." _Hmmm... oh!_ "Have they told you what the void looks like?"

"It can be black or white."

"Ah... have you ever wondered what's up above?"

"It's also a void, but it has stars!"

"Did they tell you what the stars look like?"

"Like if you go near them, you can't touch them, because they're hot."

 _Okay, at least that's correct._

"But they are shaped like stars, really small stars."

 _I take back what I just thought. Okay, maybe not._ Evezleya blinks. "Interesting." _Let's take this to a... religious level._ "What is your... perception about God?"

"God?"

 _I've been here for more than a decade. In fact, I've been working here for more than a decade! I'm in utter disbelief that I only knew this just now. Why did I never ask this in any interview? Why did I never ask about this from my tributes in the oast years? Well, maybe we didn't come across that topic, or perhaps they're not so talkative._ "That's a good story for another time." She sips some more tea. "Have you ever known about oceans?"

"Oh, Panem is surrounded by it, right?"

"Parts of it, yes." _Darling, I'm gonna show you the world when you're victor._ "Oh look! We're getting closer."

Corinna and Evezleya look outside.

"That," Evezleya points at a pair of twin towers. "That's the former Tribute Center. You'll be having your training there!"

"Larry said I should get allies."

"It's up to you, but with your friendly tone, I think you should! What else did he tell you?"

"I asked a lot of questions and he told me a lot."

"Did you have to ask it from him?"

"Mmhm!" Corinna nods at the same time.

"Okay then. I think you're ready for the games then! All you have to do is be prepared for training, and you should be good!"

"Yay!"

Evezleya finishes her tea. She then adjusts her ribbons once more. "Come here, darling." She stands up, and so does Corinna. "I'm gonna make your next days here fun." She gives Corinna a warm and gentle hug, and Corinna reciprocates.

"You're the best, Evezleya."

"Oh, call me Sylvia!"

"Sylvia?"

"Yes. I'll tell you another story behind that nickname in another time."

* * *

Caitlin of District Five stares into blank space. Ciara snaps her fingers at her mentor for attention.

"Oh sorry. I must have zoned off again."

"You always zone off on me!"

"I always zone off on all my tributes. You can ask Maggie. Ever since my first train ride, I've been zoning off. It's a habit I can't stop. It just brings back so many memories." Caitlin stares at the window once more.

"Ugh!"

"You... you can let Maggie train you if you want."

"But I want to be mentored alone!" Ciara gets up from her seat in disappointment.

Caitlin yawns aloud with her mouth wide open. Ciara rolls her eyes. Caitlin stares back at her, and says, "Fine, fine."

Ciara sits back down.

"Let's... let's fix your angle first?"

"We've already talked about training earlier, so duh!"

Caitlin yawns once more. "Great. I didn't remember. I didn't care."

Ciara rolls her eyes.

"So... tell me what life is at home."

"My family and I work on the power grids, and we are a big family. We're an orchestrated family. I play the saxophone, but I can sing too if I'm needed. I'm one of the top students in my class, and I love to run. I'm part of my school's track team and I go rock climbing when I'm free."

There comes a pause. "Interesting, dear. Do you have a pity point in your life, like a dead family member, or a broken limb, or..."

"I was told after I was reaped that I got a mail inviting me to study in the University of Panem for a scholarship."

"Ah! You can use that as your angle."

Neither of them have realized that they have more to fix with the grumpy way Ciara was after being reaped.

"Let's see... talents?"

"I can be funny if you ask me to."

"Oh really?"

"Duh!" Ciara says with an eye roll.

"Anything else?"

"Everything else I mentioned earlier."

"Oh, singer, sax player, climber, runner, and the such."

"Yes."

"Good. Weaknesses?"

"Short fuse sometimes. I just can't help it. Sassy? Is sassy a weakness?"

Caitlin shrugs.

"My friends say I'm too trusting of others."

Caitlin touches her deep red hair and twirls it with her fingers. She then says, "Good." A long pause comes after that.

"Okay now what?"

"Good. You're gonna be fine."

"That's it?"

Caitlin stares at the window again and says, "What do you want?"

"Ugh!" Ciara makes another eye roll.

"Fine. I'll tell you a story."

"Bring it on."

"Uh... once upon a time, there was a little girl who was living with her grandma. She takes care of her grandma, and that's all she cares about. She goes sneaking around the district for adventure, and didn't care about the peacekeepers, because they were stricter back then. She goes camping alone, and doesn't go home sometimes. She just wants to have fun without having a care in the world." Caitlin glaces at Ciara, who's listening attentively, before staring back at the window. "She was late at the reapings, so she never heard her name getting called, but she was reaped into the hunger games. How fun. She trained during training, she showed her bow and arrow skills because she's a fast learner, and she was sent to the games eventually." Caitlin stops for a while and sighs in a relaxed manner.

Ciara anticipates for how Caitlin won her games, what mistakes and strategies she had, and the such.

"When I first entered the arena, it was a beautiful place filled with... mountains! There were lakes, rivers, forests - you know, the typical arena - but it was breathtaking! If you've seen a sunset from one of those ice-capped mountains, you'll know what I mean. The water glows blue and the sky is all starry at night. I read from a book that it was based off a faraway and long-time-ago place called New Zealand."

 _Is she only gonna blabber about the arena?_ Ciara thinks.

"It was a pretty place I wish I could revisit, but it's an arena. Why visit a place where you were forced to kill four people?"

"How did your games go?"

"It was fine. A bit of a shocker after, since I actually killed teenagers who had big dreams too, but it was quite like a requirement. You're forced to do it. If you don't, your dreams end on the spot. Your dreams die with you."

"Who did you kill?"

"I can't remember, and I don't really care. All I know is that I had four kills."

"How about your final opponent?"

"Oh, it was the girl from Two. She was tough to beat. An arrows or two didn't stop her. I had to drag her to the water during the eternal sunrise of the eleventh day."

"Well, at least you came back."

"Yes, yes I did, but sometimes, I can't help but wonder what it'd be like in an alternate universe. Maybe the girl from Two killed me. Maybe my last arrow missed the mark. Maybe we weren't on water, albeit near it. Maybe it wasn't even a picturesque mountain arena. We'll never know. What matters is that I'm here, wondering endlessly why these things happen."

 _That was deep. I'm not sure whether I should believe in alternate universes._ Ciara scratches her head.

"Well, you better prepare. We'll be arriving very soon, and the action starts right after."

As Ciara remains seated on the couch she's been sitting on, Caitlin still stares deep outside through the window.

Ciara thinks, _I guess I just have to play my cards right._

Meanwhile with Filly and Maggie, they've been getting along really well.

"I only have a mom left. What about you?" Maggie asks.

Filly answers, "I have a dad, a papa, two brothers, and two sisters. I'm the youngest too."

"Awww! You seem to have a really awesome family."

"You too! Every family is awesome if you think they are."

"Awww! Come here you." Maggie pulls Filly closer for a hug. "I'm not supposed to be doing this to a fourteen-year-old."

"It's okay. I love hugs!"

"Oh really?" Maggie pulls Filly for another hug.

"Everybody needs a warm and nice hug sometimes."

"What do you usually do?"

"I write letters with my pen pal, I..."

"Woo! I love your hobby. Go on."

"I spend time with my siblings, make friends, talk to people."

"You would probably make a great businessperson someday! If you weren't in the games, what are some of your life goals?"

"I think... I would spread all the love that I can give."

"You're so sweet! Come on here." Maggie and Filly hug once more. "You're gonna make the audience love you! Please keep this angle."

"I will!"

"Yay! I'm pretty sure getting allies will be easy for you."

"But I don't know if they'll want me as an ally."

"You'll be fine. I can even help you with it."

"Really?"

"Of course! I'm your mentor for a reason." Maggie realizes that Filly introduced himself as Filly. "Say, is Filly really your name, or does Filly stand for something else."

"It's Filament, but it sounds too district-related."

"I. Know. RIGHT!? Can you guess what Maggie stands for?"

"Um... Mag... hmmm... Magnetic?"

"MAGNETTE! MY PARENTS NAMED ME MAGNETTE! Isn't that silly!?"

"Maggie sounds better."

"Thanks. Filly too!"

"Thanks!"

"Come here you..." Maggie hugs Filly and he hugs back like they've done a few times now. "You remind me of my teddy bear."

"I love giving away teddy bears."

"You're so sweet!" Maggie approaches Filly for another hug. "I forgot to ask you who you want for allies by the way."

"Oh, I think the boy from Six is a better teddy bear than I am."

"Oh nice! Don't worry, I can ask Royce to convince him if he doesn't wanna, hehehe." She fixes her round glasses and rainbow headband on her frizzy blonde hair. "Anybody else?"

"I like the girl from Twelve's optimism!"

"That's great! Larry is easy to talk to, I guess."

"Oh, and the twelve-year-old girl. I pity her."

"That's not a bad idea! I wonder who Nine's mentor is this year."

"They're all happy puppy people! We're gonna be good friends helping each other go far. Yay!"

"Yay! What now?"

"Let's talk about Vi. I heard she's retiring."

"Yeah she is. She loves District Five so much. Other escorts wanted to trade districts with her, but she won't let them."

"What is with District Five that she loves so much about?"

"Uh... I don't know. Maybe the people or the view. There aren't a lot of incidents in District Five."

"Oh... too bad she's retiring soon."

"It's okay. She's not that friendly all the time."

"But she probably likes her job though."

Maggie thinks, then says, "Yeah, good point there."

"I wish I'll know who our next escort is."

"Don't worry! Just keep up the attitude and make sure to get the sponsors to love you. I mean, look at my games. It was a horrorful world. All I did was to be myself, and it got me sponsors. Later on they wondered how this hippie from Five won on a very ghastly games."

"Did you kill someone?"

"Two points. I was sad for them. It could've been much worse, but they're in a better place now, and I'm here helping you become... you! No actually, you're already you! I'm just meeting new people and helping them out when they can't."

"You're awesome, Maggie!" Filly approaches for a hug, and Maggie reciprocates it.

"Yay! I won when I was your age, so I believe you can make the same feat too!"

"But... but I don't wanna kill. I'm not a killer, I'm a friendly teddy bear."

Maggie doesn't know what to say exactly. She can convince him to just do it, but at the same time it defies her previous statement of being one's self. "Hmmm... you're gonna have allies."

"Yes."

"You're gonna let them help you. Twelve's mentor, Larry Rockenstein, won his games without a kill. You can do the same thing too you know."

Filly thinks of a way, but he is afraid now. He doesn't wanna kill, and he knows his chances of winning will go lower than what Maggie expected first.

"You can!"

Finally, Filly speaks up with, "Yes."

"You need to be more confident!" Maggie gives him an encouragement hug. "You can do it!"

"Yes I can!"

"That's the spirit kid!"

Filly thinks, _I'm afraid that I'll grow too attached to my allies-to-be. How will I work around that? I can't easily let go of people I'm so attached with._

"Alright. We'll talk more tonight after the parade. Right now, I wish you the best of luck, Filly!"

"One last hug?"

"One last hug!"

With that, they give each other a tight warm hug.

* * *

As Royce gets up and goes to the washroom, Violet talks to the two tributes of District Six.

"I hope you don't have questions with the angles, training strategies that we've been discussing for the past few hours."

Kylie shakes her head.

"Actually, I am very curious to know what year your games are, mam."

"Ohoho! I am from the 85th Games. If you remember the year with an archipelago with a volcano in the middle, that was my year."

"It was a long time ago," remarks Thomas.

"I know. I can't remember so much about my past, except that I was thrown to the orphanage after my uncle and aunt disowned me."

"Why would they do that?"

"They hate me, and the feeling is mutual. Although, the orphanage system in Six is awful."

Kylie uncomfortably listens to the conversation.

"Why?" asks Thomas.

"They throw away kids that are 'too old' because there is 'no space' when in reality they transfer the disabled kids to the community home. It doesn't make sense, and it's not fair."

"So were you told to leave the orphanage?"

"Yes, but I live in the Victor's Village now. What can they say?"

Thomas applauds in amusement. Kylie remains silent.

"I didn't make the system. I'm pretty sure the people who lived regretted throwing me away instantly after I won."

"Do you ever wonder what happen to dead people?"

"I do too. I'm getting closer there, haha."

"What do you think happen to them?"

"Their soul leaves the body, but I also wonder where that soul goes."

Royce returns and says, "Alright people, we need to be ready for the paparazzi. They're probably the hardest part of the games process as a mentor."

"How is it hard?"

"You just have to walk to the Remake Center, and people will ask you questions, take pictures of you, block your way."

"Oh, I remember Royce walking out of the train when he was twelve," Violet adds. "Someone asked him..."

Royce says, "'On a scale of one to ten, how cute are you for sponsors?' And I said, 'The only people calling me cute are the people who are jealous of my looks.'"

"Ooh!" Thomas reacts.

Kylie cringes silently.

"Yeah, so I don't like paparazzi. They probably don't like me too, unless it's someone really good, like the Evezleya interviewer who's now an escort."

"You must've wished her to be our escort instead," says Thomas.

"Exactly! She chose Twelve though, but she might move to another district next time. You'll never know."

"Tell me some more interesting conversations you had," says Thomas excitedly. "I wanna know more of your technique."

"Haha! I just like being manipulative. So let's see..."

Violet asks, "What about that time when Diego was asking you to keep your mouth shut?"

"Oh, Diego Colorex, my mentor?"

"Yeah!"

"I told him to stuff some cherries on his ears so he won't hear me, and he hates cherries!"

They all laugh, even the shy Kylie.

"Another one, another one!" Thomas requests.

"Probably one of the questions paparazzi like asking every victor: If you could change one thing in your life, what would it be? I said, 'Your existence, so you wouldn't be asking such a dumb question.'"

They laugh once more.

"Last one," Violet says.

"Okay, so there was this one time Ace Starling from One confronted me saying that I shouldn't have won at a young age and with a low score, and I told her, 'If you don't think I deserve to win, what else with your worthless tributes that disappoint you year per year?'"

They all laugh once more.

"Oh my goodness. Ace hates being insulted about her worthlessness as a mentor. Thank goodness I'm not from District One."

The train slows down, and they all look outside.

"Okay, we're on queue," says Violet after seeing five trains before them.

They all look outside to see both District One tributes entering the Remake Center. Paparazzi approach them, but Ace is screaming them away.

"See? She's no good sport. There's this one year, the 133rd I believe, the twist for that year's bloodbath was finding a way out of the room, and the whole games revolved around mini but deadly challenges. Her tribute didn't make it out and placed 24th."

"Oh, that year!" Violet exclaims.

"Guess what she did."

"What?" Thomas responds.

"She went berserk in the viewing room, throwing unopened champagne bottles and slamming every table to the floor. The peacekeepers had to take her out for that. I'm pretty sure every escort present there that time remembers everything like it was just yesterday. Eventually, co-mentor Eigengrau sent her home."

Kylie cringes at that thought of Ace making a scene. _That was probably super embarrassing._

"Hahaha!" Violet laughs. "That was probably the most memorable thing that happened in the viewing room."

Thomas asks, "What's the viewing room?"

Royce answers, "That's place is actually a restaurant where sponsors come and go. Mentors, escorts, stylists, even prep teams sometimes go there to watch the games live. It's the hotspot for sponsors!"

"Cool!"

As District Two enters the Remake Center, District Three exits the train.

"That small kid from Two is not to be underestimated," comments Royce. "They did the same thing to me, and look where I am now, hah!"

They see the two small District Three tributes making their way to the Remake Center.

"Look at them go," Violet says as she sees Tira holding Chip's hand and raising it up.

"Okay, we must come up with a plan," Thomas says.

"Plan for what?" Violet asks.

Royce questions, "Plan to get the attention of the paparazzi without dismissing them?"

"Yeah," answers Thomas. "I'll talk to Kylie privately."

"Oh sure! It's nice to see district partners getting along," says Violet.

"Alright, but don't take long," Royce responds.

"Not even a minute!" Thomas replies.

As the mentors stay in another train car for a short while, Thomas tells Kylie, "Only destiny brought us together. I have been waiting for this day to meet you once again."

"Why would you want to meet me again?"

"Because I see potential in you. You're shy, and unconfident, but if you take those away, you are meant to do great things. Who'll know? Maybe you'll be our district's next victor. You can help Violet by taking her position as mentor. I know you can do it. I believe in you, but you have to believe in yourself too."

Kylie thinks, _He's making me nervous about all this._

"You probably refused to join me because you were shy, but I tell you, you're better than that kid they threw away from the orphanage. Now, when we go out, we're both gonna have to wave to the crowd and blow some kisses. If they ask any questions, just tell them that you'll answer them when you win this whole thing."

 _Winning is not easy, but I guess I'll try,_ Kylie thinks.

"You hear me?"

Kylie nods. The mentors return to the train car, and District Five is leaving the train by this time.

"Good. We're ready."

"I'm excited to see how you two will fare overall," Violet says. "I like seeing my tributes grow in the process of these games."

"They always come and go though?" Thomas says unsurely.

"Sadly, yes, but I'm too used to it by now."

"It's your time to shine," alerts Royce. "Good luck you two! See you in the parade."

The train doors open, and Thomas confidently faces the crowd. Kylie may have been nervous at the beginning, but she musters up enough confidence to give the crowd what it wants.

 _I'm gonna be fine. I just have to keep it together._

* * *

AN:

With that, we're done with the train rides! :D If you haven't noticed, I've been introducing the mentors here because I wasn't able to do so during the prologues or reapings. Hope you liked reading about them and their interactions.

The next chapter starts with the results of the stylist competition. I won't be writing about the prep teams, so we'll be going back to the Gamemakers' Headquarters during that time for more insiders and world building about the games. After that is the Tribute Parade, where we'll be seeing how well the stylists did in styling their tributes.

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)

P.S. I like releasing chapters before going to bed so that I don't have to wait for reviews. I just wake up and read them enjoyably. :3 Although this isn't the case all the time, since I had to wait for days to get reviews for my other older stories. XD


	25. Pre-Parade: Delivery

AN:

Just to clarify, anything _italicized_ with "quotation marks" are interviews or confessionals, while it can also be Kevin from Susie's schizophrenia.  
Anything _italicized_ only shows the thought of a certain character.

Behold! The pre-parade chapter is here. Enjoy! :D

* * *

Alistair begins, "The stylist... who will pick among twenty-four tributes... is..."

Everyone waits in suspense.

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

"Please step forward, Anakyn Skyavich."

As he steps forward, the stylists give him a round of applause.

"Now, among the twenty-four tributes, kindly select the clipboard with their profile and bring it with you."

Anakyn has a solid decision already. He goes to the long table at the corner of the room and picks up a clipboard with the name he is looking for.

Alistair takes a look at it, and announces, "Tira Hyde."

Some stylists give him another round of applause.

 _Anakyn says in a post-parade interview, "I picked Tira because I think we will get along. I've escorted for District Three in the past, so I also have an idea for the chariot outfit."_

"Up next, in second place... please step forward... Sophia Tristen."

Another round of applause comes from the other stylists as she steps forward.

"Now, pick a clipboard with your selected tribute's profile."

Sophia didn't think this through carefully. She looks at the pictures provided on the profiles and makes a move better known as judging a book by its cover. There's this one that interests her, from the looks and traits on the profile. She makes a calculated risk and picks that clipboard.

Alistair takes a look at it and says, "Chip Tablet. With that, District Three is officially out of the remaining choices."

Sophia makes her way back.

 _Sophia says in an interview, "I think the smart kid will jive with my smart outfit."_

"In third place, we have... a tie between... Trav Traversal and Belle Tristen. Kindly step forward."

Everybody knows the drill by now, so they do what they are expected to do.

"Belle?" She shows her clipboard to Alistair, so he announces, "Jeanne Maxima." Trav follows shortly after. "Ingeo Olefin."

 _Belle says, "Jeanne has that natural beauty. I think I can give her the angle that she desires."_

 _"I picked the pathetic kid, because I'm pathetic too. We can commiserate on our free times, if there will be any," says Trav on a post-parade interview._

Totochan and Rogue are the next two to pick. They do so at the same time due to a tie.

"Corinna for Totochan and..."

 _"That girl has my attention. She has a great personality," Totochan says. "It'd be such a shame if I gave her away."_

Rogue doesn't really know who to pick, so she just selects one that should make a fellow stylist react negatively.

"Horden Tanase."

A soft moan comes from Chay. Rogue goes back to her position confidently with a smirk.

 _"Knowing Charlie's preference, I took that tribute to... save him from being molested," Rogue says with a confident yet malicious smile._

Tasrita is the next to pick, and it was easy for her to pick.

"Rufus Cornelii. Moving on."

 _"That burn on his face may trigger past events, but it's a good angle to work with!" says Tasrita excitedly._

Valtron doesn't have a solid decision too, since his ideas revolve around District Three, and both tributes from there have already been taken.

 _"My stunt outfit proposal wasn't the best, so the closest picks for me were... District Five?" Valtron says unconfidently._

"Filament Harmon-Fierro."

Latisha and Valerie are the next to pick, and the former doesn't take a lot of time selecting.

"Susie Ye."

 _Latisha says, "I dunno. It's just a gut feeling."_

Valerie, on the other hand, is having trouble selecting a fierce tribute she must style for. She ends up picking between two clipboards she is holding.

"Lainey Sash."

 _"I picked Lainey because she may gets the crowd's attention for being sweet yet strong," Valerie says. "I think she is strong."_

Concordia is next and takes the closest clipboard. She takes a look at it to be sure, and she shows it to Alistair.

"Argentum Montgomery."

 _"Easy. His name means silver in Latin, so something shiny should do the trick!" Concordia says in an interview excitedly._

Up next, Anino picks the farthest available clibpoard and shows it to Alistair.

"Dante Blackwell."

 _Anino says, "He has the vibe that lets him fade in the shadows, so I might as well set up his angle for that while telling him that he can Go-go-gogh and get it done!"_

DeeDee slowly walks to the table as she thinks from memory who she wants to style for. As she remembers, she picks up her speed.

"Kylie Ford."

 _"It's... I dunno, I think we'll do great with each other," DeeDee says with a smile._

Belvedere is the next to select, and it doesn't take him long to pick...

"Thomas Barnaby."

 _"I like this kid," says Belvedere._

Ganymede and Spring are tied, so they select their tributes at the same time. They both get hold of a clipboard at the same time, so they played one round of rock, paper, scissors. Ganymede ends up giving Spring the clipboard.

"Annaleigh St. Cloud."

 _Spring says, "There's a lot you can do with a career."_

 _"She took my career," Ganymede says. "Good thing my backup is still there."_

Ganymede shows her clipboard to Alistair shortly after.

"Brenna O'Hare."

Mavine is next, and she seems to know who she wants.

"Kobe Bridger."

The rest of the stylists who haven't picked were very relieved. Some are more open with their reactions than others.

 _Mavine says, "It's an intriguing choice I want to test out."_

Vector is next, and he picks a clipboard without hesitation.

"Orion Fleming."

 _"This kid has some direction and magnitude!" Vector says._

Valentine is next, and his decision seems to be final too from the very beginning.

"Arlenna Scott."

 _"I usually lean on the younger children. Sexy angle is not my thing," Valentine says in his post-parade interview._

Canvas is next with...

"Owen Lee Bai."

 _Canvas says nervously, "I... kinda ran out of better choices."_

He is followed by Scalar, who seems obviously disappointed for not beating her brother.

"Ciara Westley."

 _"Tough luck," says Scalar. "My stupid brother beat me into this, but at least Ciara isn't the worst. Her body size is the easiest one remaining."_

Marjorita then gets her turn to pick...

"Poppy Sennett."

 _Marjorita says, "Eh."_

Bonita is then called, relieved and surprised that her first choice is still available and that she didn't place last.

 _"OMG!" Bonita exclaims. "I'm not last."_

"Macy Roe. Which means, Chay, you are taking Dorian Belcorn."

His face sours a bit, but then he takes a look at the picture and realizes how handsome he is.

 _"Dorian looks HOT!" Chay says._

"Ahihi, okay," Chay replies to Alistair.

"Now that everyone has a tribute, please be ready for their arrivals. The prep teams have to be ready too. You are highly encouraged to communicate with the stylist who will work on your tribute's district partner. Good luck, have fun! I'll see all of your works tonight at the Tribute Parade."

Alistair then turns to the stunters. "Thank you for your time. All of you are now dismissed, but if you have nothing to do, we invite you to our gamemaking meeting about an hour from now, at the headquarters. If you can't, then that's fine. Please take note that we have another meeting tomorrow. There are still topics we haven't discussed."

Eltha nods.

"Okay," says Titan.

"Alright," responds Halizeia.

"Gotcha," Lucius replies.

"Very well! I will now make my way back to the headquarters. Anybody following?"

Silence.

"Alright then. See you all tomorrow."

Genji makes a call to order the limousine, but the tributes start coming in one by one.

"Detour, detour," Al says.

"Detour indeed!" Genji agrees.

By taking the back entrance, the three gamemakers are able to ride the limousine back to the headquarters.

* * *

At the front entrance, Argentum and Annaleigh are the first tributes to enter. Concordia and Spring welcome them.

"Wonderful, wonderful!" Concordia says excitedly. "Let's get you two ready. Chop chop!"

Brenna and Rufus are the bext to enter.

"My name is Ganymede."

"And I'm Tasrita, but you can call me Nurse Burnz."

Rufus plasters an evil smile on his face.

 _Oohoohoo! This kid must be wicked!_ thinks Tasrita.

Next to enter are Tira and Chip.

"Hi! My name is Anakyn Skyavich and this is Sophia Tristen. We will be your stylists starting now."

"Oh!" reacts Tira. "I've heard about you from my mentors."

Anakyn smiles and they're led away, as Horden and Jeanna are the next to meet their stylists.

"I am Belle and this is Madam Rogue."

"Eh, Rogue is fine."

Next up are Filly and Ciara.

"Come with us, please," Valtron says nicely.

Kylie and Thomas are the next ones to enter.

"My name is Belvedere, and DeeDee and I will make you two look great."

Susie and Orion are the next ones in.

"Come come. We're gonna have a great time," Vector says.

Ingeo and Lainey get to meet their stylists next.

"I am Valerie, and this is Suvwavwa... Swvavria... Svrwee..."

"Just call me Trav." He says it with a smile.

Up next, Macy and Dorian enter the center.

"HI! I'm Charlie, but you can call me CHAY!"

"I'm Bonita. Nice to meet you!"

"Yay! I'm Macy, and this is my big friend Dorian."

"Hello."

Chay reacts with moans like a fanboy, but they step aside as Arlenna and Kobe are the next to come in.

"This is Mavine, and I'm Valentine. Nice to meet you!"

"NO!" Kobe says aloud.

Mavine rolls her eyes. _I have an idea. This should be fun!_

Next to enter and meet their stylists are Owen and Poppy.

"Woohoo!" says Canvas.

Last but not the least, Dante and Corinna enter the center.

"I'm Anino Gogogogh!"

"And I'm Totochan Lierro. We are pleased to meet you."

"Awesome!" says Corinna. "I'm Corinna. This is Dante. He's not much of a social butterfly."

* * *

While the prep teams are taking care of the tributes, the stylists talk to each other on ideas.

 **Valentine & Mavine - District Ten**

"I was thinking of something like this." Valentine simulates the outfit into a hologram. "Here's what it looks like for males and this is the one for females. It's something historical. I researched about this earlier in the week."

"I guess we can go for it," Mavine agrees.

 _Valentine says in a post-parade interview, "I research about outfits sometimes. This one I found is elegant and simplistic, and it doesn't have to reveal too much skin."_

 _"Valentine is nice to work with. He has nice ideas and doesn't go for the sexy angle, unlike some others," Mavine says._

 **Trav & Valerie - District Eight**

"We need something that will make them look strong," says Valerie.

"Hmmm... I have some magical idea I was thinking of," Trav inputs.

"Like?"

"Dressing them up in clothes like these." He points to the screen some pictures he found on the Internet.

"I can make her strong. What about you?"

"I guess what it looks right now is good for Ingeo."

 _"I didn't know how to make a textile-based tribute strong and intimidating until Trav gave me some ideas," says Valerie._

 _"I've been waiting for this moment! I'm so glad Valerie agreed with it."_

 **Tasrita & Ganymede - District Two**

"We're gonna make them BURN!" says Tasrita with passion.

Ganymede responds, "I have full trust in you."

 _Ganymede says in an interview, "Tasrita loves setting things on fire."_

Tasrita says, "We're still using your ideas though."

"Those? Really?"

"Yeah. They're gonna look fierce, on FIRE!"

 _"I love giving my tributes or customers a FLARE of their own. Hahahaha!" Tasrita says menacingly._

 **Belle & Rogue - District Four**

"Jeanne told me herself she wants to be pretty," Belle tells Rogue.

"Those other stylists must be envious that you got the girl who wants to play sexy," Rogue comments.

"How much props are we allowed to use?"

"As many as you wish. Why?"

"I was thinking that she's better off sitting if she wants that angle."

 _"Belle ain't bad for a first-timer," Rogue remarks. "Her ideas are well thought out."_

 _"I like working with a veteran stylist like Rogue," Belle shares. "She knows what's right, what's wrong, what's good, what's bad. It's the growth and experience that counts."_

 **Anino & Totochan - District Twelve**

"Does that attire require gloves and a hat?" Totochan asks.

"I believe so," replies Anino.

 _"My style requires accessories," Totochan says confidently. "I like dressing up people with something to wear on top and on the limbs. It makes them loads cooler than not having them at all."_

 _Anino says, "Maybe the angle will work with the outfit for both of them. I'm just not confident with this idea being the best."_

 **Belvedere & DeeDee - District Six**

Belvedere says, "Thanks Anakyn! I owe you."

"Anytime, sir!" Anakyn replies.

As Belvedere returns to DeeDee, he plugs in the flash drive into the CPU.

"Great! Now we need somebody to operate it."

"So..." stammers DeeDee.

"Just make it look good. Hopefully all eyes will be on them." Belvedere smiles after.

 _"Only Anakyn knows all these mechanical stuff, so I asked him about it and he lent me one of his past works," says Belvedere happily._

 _"I honestly don't have a lot of ideas for District Six. Luckily for Thomas, Belvedere was very resourceful," shares DeeDee._

 **Valtron & Scalar - District Five**

"Are suits all we got!?" questions Scalar complainingly.

"Relax, dear. My suits illuminate in the best ways you can imagine," Valtron responds. "After all, you can give input if you have any."

Scalar doesn't respond.

 _Scalar confesses, "I like Ciara's body shape and size, but my ideas for District Five are drained!"_

"Now," starts Valtron. "I think all we need are two musical instruments of their choice."

"Why?"

"Because why not?" Valtron raises his eyebrows and smile.

 _"The visuals is the major requirement for styling, but if I can add certain elements not relating to visuals, those may be brownie points," Valtron inputs. "A blind person would definitely appreciate that."_

 **Vector & Latisha - District Seven**

"Your ideas are great!" comments Latisha.

Vector replies, "Let's hope it appeals to the audience."

 _"His ideas are better than mine, and I'm just going with the flow," says Latisha. "My style will still be there though."_

 _"I'm not concerned about beating my sister to this," Vector says. "I'm more concerned of how memorable my creation is for my tribute."_

 **Chay & Bonita - District Nine**

"If you want something revealing, I have a suggestion for you," Bonita tells Chay.

 _"Working with Chay is a bit complicated. He wants to expose his tributes all the time," Bonita reacts._

"I think I'm fine with that," says Chay.

"Don't make it bad for Dorian, please."

"I guess I'll show you afterwards?"

"Sure."

 _Chay says, "Bonita likes going big, for attention. Our tributes do not have the same outfits because of that."_

 **Anakyn & Sophia - District Three**

Anakyn lays out a blueprint.

"Whoa!" exclaims Sophia.

"I did it earlier this year for two of my friends," Anakyn shares. "I just need to modify it to look more like an outfit that makes sense."

"Oh, oh! How about making it look like something with stars? It has that dark color anyway."

"Hmmm... great idea, actually. We can let this work."

"So it's our theme now?"

"Yes, but maybe not. We'll see how Chip and Tira executes this transformation on the actual ride."

"I'd love to know!"

"We have to tell them how it works though."

"Of course! I'm excited to see this thing work."

 _Sophia shares, "Having Anakyn as a partner is amazing! No wait, amazing is an understatement."_

 _"I am a mechanic, so I've made stuff in the past that I can now apply as a chariot costume," says Anakyn. "In fact, I even lent one of my models to Sir Belvedere."_

 **Marjorita & Canvas - District Eleven**

"I have no idea," says Canvas.

"We can always go for something like a cabbage or a tomato," Marjorita inputs.

"No! The president is gonna kill us."

"Doctor Florentine Flores? She? Kill us?"

"It's a crime called plagiarism of outfits? That's why they assign us a different district every year. Well, except this one. They let us pick this time."

"Yeah yeah sure."

"We are not dressing them up as tomatoes."

"Do you have a better idea?"

"No, but..."

"Well, we have to prepare something at least. If we come up with a better idea, I have no problem changing it even if it's last minute."

"And if we don't?"

"Tomato and cabbage."

"No!"

Marjorita shrugs.

 _"I wanna make my tributes happy if I can, so I was just sassing with Canvas earlier," Marjorita says. "Of course there's no way I'll let my tributes dress up as a tomato or a cabbage. Both of them will hate me."_

 _"Marjorita is a bit hard to work with, or maybe I suck," comments Canvas. "I hope their outfits will work."_

 **Spring & Concordia - District One**

"They're both blonde anyway," says Concordia.

"But shouldn't we get their permissions first!?" worries Spring.

"Go ask, girl, and calm down," Concordia responds.

 _Spring shares, "Concordia wanted to color both tributes' hairs. I said we need their permissions, since that dye is not gonna wash off right away."_

Spring comes back saying, "They're both good with it."

"Good! Now we need an outfit idea."

 _"I feel so blessed for the opportunity to pick District One. I've been assigned to other districts in the past, except One, and this is one of the easiest districts to style for," comments Concordia._

As some tributes were finishing up with their prep teams, their stylists start measuring them for the outfit.

* * *

Al, Genji, and Alistair reach their destination, the Gamemakers' Headquarters. As they enter the building, they meet a familiar face in the lobby. The tall old man has lime and turquoise hair, light orange skin, and cyber pink contact lenses. He wears a deep blue blazer over a violet attire along with a pair of dirty white slacks, gold left boot and silver right boot, and a copper top hat.

"Alistair! Long time no see."

"It's been a while, Master Niccolo."

"How many times do I have to tell you to just call me Nic?"

"Some things never change," Genji whispers aloud to Al.

"Shall we proceed?"

"On your mark, Alistair."

Alistair enters the gamemaking room. The other present gamemakers prepare for the meeting. Morty approaches Alistair to give him the official document. Alistair opens it to the page of the stylists and the districts they are involved with this year.

"Impressive," he says while nodding. He looks to Al and Genji's direction, and they both smile at him while Al gives him a thumbs up.

Alistair goes to the front part of the room and clears his throat. He checks his watch to confirm the time. "Good afternoon fellow gamemakers! We are ready to start the meeting with our special guest. The guest gamemaker system has been active since the 126th Hunger Games, and this year is no different." Alistair takes out a card from a small envelope. "He has served as a gamemaker since the Fourth Quarter Quell and was promoted as head gamemaker after the Fifth Quarter Quell. He resigned at the age of seventy-eight, where his last games was the 135th. Without further ado, I present to you our guest gamemaker of the 140th Hunger Games. Please welcome, Former Head Gamemaker Niccolo Cumulonimbi Jones!"

The room of the gamemakers is filled with the sound of the applause as the 83-year-old man enters the room in a healthy manner.

Solomon shouts, " MASTER NIC! WOOOOO!"

He waits for the room to silence. "I am very honored to be back as a guest gamemaker. I first proposed this system when I was on my first year as the head, and it was approved right away. Little did I know that I will one day be invited back as a guest gamemaker. Thank you, Alistair, for bringing me back."

"I thank you too for your decision in returning!" Alistair replies.

Another round of applause fills the room.

"Okay! So, we have lots of things to tell our guest gamemaker. We even prepared a seven-minute documentary to show you about this year's arena."

"Perfect!" remarks Niccolo.

"Axel, video please."

The video is played and it describes the arena in detail. In summary, it is a mountain with four different sector, each with its own theme.

When the video ends, Niccolo says, "I'm impressed! Everyone did a great job planning this. It reminds me of my days as a head gamemaker. Oh you know, organizing the arena, preparing the twists, and even getting sponsors. It's a job well done to all of you!"

More clapping sounds fill the room.

"Alistair, I am so proud of you! What other things do you have planned that are not in the video?"

"The lands were modified a bit with additional structures."

"Like?"

"You remember the tall pillar at the dark Sector One? We added a marble tower over there."

"Ooh! Anything else?"

"Sector Two now has a castle in the middle of the lake. We had to implement the levitation on the metal orbs below it. Otherwise, it will sink!"

"I'm loving this!"

"Sector Three, we added a pagoda near the hell hole. At first we thought of just using the prison that we can burn later, but the pagoda will be better. We also added a mesh cover on that hell hole."

"Ahahaha, I see! What's for the fourth one?"

"Four that," says Alistair with a wink. "We have a mansion. Not much, but you haven't seen the insides."

"Oh!"

"Have you heard of the news that Capitolites are eligible to volunteer for these games?"

"Yes, I actually have heard of that. I didn't know how to put that at first, but now I can see why you built these... these structures. It's obviously for them."

"Ah, you know. We also modified the cornucopia, to make the bloodbath more... interesting."

"Legendary! I love these bloodbath twists. They give the careers less chances of killing more, because I love saving action for later. They have been dysfunctional lately."

"I've noticed."

"May I see the official list of... everything, the whole documentation?"

"Over here." Alistair hands Niccolo the documentation made by Morty.

* * *

Document Summary by District:

 **District 1:**

Tributes:

Annaleigh St. Cloud (17)

Argentum Montgomery (17)

Mentor:

Ace Starling (32)

Substitute Escort:

Francisco "Frank" Specular (48)

Stylists:

Concordia Speculoos-Specular (47)

Spring Yndeegaux (25)

 **District 2:**

Tributes:

Brenna O'Hare (18)

Rufus Cornelii (12)

Mentors:

Joan Ho (26)

Cyrus Mackintosh (18)

Escort:

Leif Ray Khan (27)

Stylists:

Ganymede Valkyrie (43)

Tasrita "Nurse Burnz" Burnelia, R.N. (57)

 **District 3:**

Tributes:

Tira Hyde (16)

Chip Tablet (13)

Mentors:

Lorenzo "Renz" Delcroix (24)

Azriel Ruby (23)

Substitute Escort:

Predicate "Cate" Clause (20)

Stylists:

Sophia Tristen (23)

Anakyn Skyavich (34)

 **District 4:**

Tributes:

Jeanne Maxima (18)

Horden Tanase (17)

Mentors:

Delta "Double Delta" Delta (38)

Tommy "Tornado" Rotterdam (28)

Escort:

Ezairlayne Aquaffee (54)

Stylists:

Belle Tristen (23)

Rogue Roggaddot (63)

 **District 5:**

Tributes:

Ciara Graceanne Westley (15)

Filament "Filly" Harmon-Fierro (14)

Mentors:

Caitlin Theardie (45)

Magnette "Maggie" Quirlix (27)

Escort:

Vivianelli "Vi" Vanillanillan (77)

Stylists:

Scalar Ant Umbra (30)

Valtron Deja (42)

 **District 6:**

Tributes:

Kylie Ford (16)

Thomas Barnaby (18)

Mentors:

Violet Aureon (70)

Robert Royce (21)

Escort:

Mayonnaise "May" Puddington (20)

Stylists:

Kate Daphne "DeeDee" Korbin-Bandarras (46)

Belvedere Spiros (50)

 **District 7:**

Tributes:

Susie Ye (17)

Orion Fleming (15)

Mentors:

Woodrow Stirling (21)

History Grenadine (39)

Escort:

Jim Jam (33)

Stylists:

Latisha Morwan (29)

Vector Pen Umbra (30)

 **District 8:**

Tributes:

Lainey Sash (18)

Ingeo Olefin (15)

Mentors:

Karlasia "Karla" Trappist (18)

Olaf Rossburgh (40)

Escort:

Viktorio Antonio Mario "Vamp" Polyhaima (43)

Stylists:

Valerie Tristen (23)

Svwyevwrierl "Trav" Traversal (27)

 **District 9:**

Tributes:

Macy Roe (12)

Dorian Belcorn (18)

Mentors:

Alana Tapiocassava (20)

Amaya Villanueva (56)

Escort:

Neomett Elphyz (33)

Stylists:

Bonita Fern (20)

Charlie "Chay" Kale (31)

 **District 10:**

Tributes:

Arlenna Winnie Scott (13)

Kobe Bridger (13)

Mentors:

Kylene Roa (25)

Abraham Braunock (44)

Escort:

Leilah Yat (28)

Stylists:

Valentine Itis (51)

Maria Mavina "Mavine" Heatherlone-Baux (48)

 **District 11:**

Tributes:

Poppy Sennett (15)

Owen Lee Bai (14)

Mentor:

Jakobbo Langka (59)

Escort:

Calient "El Kaliente" Racha-Basco (40)

Stylists:

Marjorita Tisho (23)

Canvas MacMaquinMash (32)

 **District 12:**

Tributes:

Corinna Pickett (15)

Dante Blackwell (14)

Mentor:

Larry Rockenstein (37)

Escort:

Evezleya "Sylvia" von Evezelle (48)

Stylists:

Totochan Lierro (35)

Anino Gogogogh (45)

* * *

For the next hour or so, Niccolo checks on everybody's progress, contributions, and ideas by talking to the other gamemakers.

Being a head gamemaker for ten years, Niccolo knows what has happened in his arena and why certain tributes won. For the 126th Games, he made an arena inspired after two different cakes. It was simple, but Victor Diego Corolex never wanted to see another cherry in his life after that, because mutts, poisonous fruits, and disasters were based mostly from cherries or chocolates.

The following year, he made an arena inspired after several horror movies put together. He and his gamemakers made mutts inspired after different horror movie characters as well. There was one about a clown, another about a doll, and a whole lot more. Magnette Quirlix won that year with bravery, and also because she didn't mind seeing ugly and horrific mutts.

The 128th Games' arena was made after they did some prehistoric research. Mutts are mostly land reptiles on a land of jungles and stones. It looked like a gigantic continent minimized into a reasonable size for the arena. Canildon Triasaque of District Eight knew what animals were herbivorous after practicing herbivorous, carnivorous, and omnivorous mutts during training. He took advantage of them to fight the remaining tributes in the finale. For some odd reason, the mutt powered with artificial intelligence listened to him. It wasn't rigged. He was just lucky he got the right one.

A year later, the arena was an ice- and snow-based one. The cornucopia was an ice castle. Nobody died of hypothermia because thick coats were provided to all the tributes. Niccolo knew it would be boring to watch people die from hypothermia, so he avoided that situation. Tommy Rotterdam won that year by getting enough sponsors to his side. He had an advantage with his inventory.

For Niccolo's fifth year, the arena was taken down below the ground, in an artificial crystal ruins. There were so many twists and turns, and there was a claustrophobic tribute from Eight who took most of the screentime. Reddeus Rocker of District Two won that year by outsmarting his allies in the finale. It was one of the few recent games wherein the careers remained almost intact by the finale, with five members.

On the 131st Hunger Games, the cornucopia was a large boiling pot, or cauldron. Lucky for Robert Royce, he got out of the bloodbath without a scratch. Nobody expected him to make it past the bloodbath. What else with him outsmarting and manipulating the tributes on his way to the finale? For a twelve-year-old, getting five indirect kills had all the attention on him. Eventually, he won by pushing off the wounded boy from Two from a four-storey platform after that career betrayed his ally from Four.

The 132nd Hunger Games was fun for him. It was modeled after two giant human bodies, one male and one female. The bloodbath had a time limit before the acid would pour out. Joan Ho won that year fairly, as she fought her way to the finale like a career. The arena had other fun twists, like two control rooms on the northern side of the arena, which are the brains.

The 133rd Games was one of a kind. The days were fixed, and the twists were everything. There were no weapons in that year's games, and the tributes had to play mini-games to avoid elimination. Azriel Ruby may be a stutterer, but his knowledge and skills in the mini-games set proved that he was the brightest of all tributes that year. Had he been reaped in a different year, his fate would have been different.

On Niccolo's ninth year as head gamemaker, he made a train complex, with the bloodbath twist being all trains traveling to the cornucopia, and they would reach it when the timer hits zero. Lorenzo Delcroix was the biggest threat in that year's games. He was ruthless, and he volunteered to prove his family about his beliefs and values. The ten he got from training was no joke, as he not only decapitated a career with an incoming train during the bloodbath, but he also killed his district partner without hesitation or mercy in the finale. He was the definition of brains and brawn altogether.

Last but not the least, Niccolo saved his best arena for last. He was set to retire after that year. The arena was a massive swimming pool. It was so massive that it could fit the sea in it, and it did! When tributes were told to wear rashguards and swim tights for that year's arena uniform, they knew it had something to do with water, but the whole arena was water, not counting the ships and the few small artificial islands. There were tons of undersea sections that were left unexplored, including an 'abandoned' undersea city, as tributes preferred staying above the surface even on the stormiest of days. Alana Tapiocassava won mostly by luck, as disasters and mutts that year were more powerful than any other year.

Back to the present, after talking to everyone in the room, Niccolo asks, "Okay, now what?"

Alistair checks his watch. "I guess it's time for the Tribute Parade!"

"How exciting!"

"Is everybody going to view it live, or is somebody at least staying here?"

A few gamemakers raised their hands.

"Alright. Just keep an eye on the headquarters."

With that, Alistair and a few other gamemakers are preparing to leave for the parade.

"VIP tickets, anyone?"

Alistair distributes them to the gamemakers attending the parade. Genji calls for the limousine to come fetch them once more.

Alistair thinks, _I wonder what those stylists have prepared._

* * *

 **Valerie Tristen (23) - District Eight Stylist**

Valerie adds the finishing touches on the dress she is making with the same application all stylists used for styling the stunters' outfits.

 _Looks good,_ Valerie thinks. _I hope Trav is doing well with his._

She simulates Lainey's outfit to the hologram, then transfers the file to the flash drive. She leaves her work table to have the dress made physically. She sees a queue to the 3D printer, so she waits in line. While waiting, some drama at the front of the queue just can't be avoided.

 **Latisha Morwan (29)** **\- District Seven** **Stylist**

 **Vector Pen Umbra (30) - District Seven** **Stylist**

 **Scalar Ant Umbra (30)** **\- District Five** **Stylist**

"Your outfit sucks!" insults Scalar.

"Ignore her," Latisha tells Vector. "We don't need that kind of negativity in our lives."

"I am ignoring her," replies Vector. "She's just jealous."

As Vector and Latisha are heading back to their stations, they hear it again.

"I'm not jealous!" Scalar shouts.

Vector partially turns around and gives his sister a raspberry.

Spring, waiting in line, just rolls her eyes.

 **Ganymede Valkyrie (43) - District Two Stylist**

 **Brenna O'Hare (18) - District Two Tribute**

Ganymede carefully does Brenna's makeup while the two are seated. Brenna stares blankly at her stylist.

"You're good?" asks Ganymede.

Brenna nods.

"I hope this angle fits you."

"It's... scary? Spooky?"

"Whatever you do, just play along with Rufus."

Brenna makes a menacing yet confident smile as she nods her head.

"Gosh, you too!?" says Ganymede surprisingly. "I thought only Tasrita and Rufus make that evil smile."

 **Macy Roe (12) - District Nine Tribute**

 **Bonita Fern (20) - District Nine Stylist**

Bonita leads Macy to the mirror.

"I look good!" Macy reacts.

"Of course you do!" Bonita says. "I just need to give you small amounts of makeup, so you'll look better."

"Okay, yay!"

"I can't put too much, or it'll ruin your angle. You'll look too mature."

"Okay."

They both take a seat, and Bonita tells Macy to, "Sit properly."

Macy obeys without another word. _I'm excited for the parade!_

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District Three Tribute**

 **Chip Tablet (13) -** **District Three Tribute**

The two are practicing how to activate and deactivate their outfits in one of the District Three rooms.

"Chip, Chip," Tira calls. She snaps her fingers in front of him.

Chip looks at Tira.

Tira points at a button in the outfit. "Before you hold on to me, remember to press this button."

Chip nods as he analyzes the instruction.

"Let's give it a try, shall we?"

Tira presses a button then bends forward. Chip follows, and he holds on to Tira right after.

 **Vector Pen Umbra (30) - District Seven** **Stylist**

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District Seven** **Tribute**

"What do you think of the outfit?" Vector asks.

"I like it!" Orion replies. "It's district-related, and it's colorful."

"Great!" Vector then dabs in success. "That's what I call delivery."

"That's delivery? Wish I could de-live-r too after the games."

"Hehe. I wouldn't count you out on winning. You can deliver while on the chariot though."

"Really?"

"Up to you." Vector dabs once more, and he repeats it a few more times. "It's a stretching exercise for me, hahaha!"

"I hope it stretches my life."

The two laugh.

 **Mavine Heatherlone-Baux (48) -** **District Ten Stylist**

 **Valentine Itis (51) - District Ten Stylist**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) -** **District Ten Tribute**

 **Kobe Bridger (13) -** **District Ten Tribute**

The four prepare for the parade, as it will start in a couple more minutes. Other tributes are mingling or doing last minute preparations during this time.

"At least my outfit ain't as ugly as you are!" Kobe tells Mavine aggressively.

"The only thing ugly is your attitude," Mavine says. "Nobody really wants you."

"The outfit is my idea," Valentine adds.

"Well, at least you're better than my stylist," Kobe says. "But you suck too!"

Mavine faces Valentine then tilts her head and rolls her eyes.

"Everybody sucks, kid," says Mavine.

"I hate lollipops!" Kobe reacts.

"Whatever," Mavine says. "You can glare at the crowd all you want."

Kobe says, "No!" without thinking. It processes in his mind that his negative reply would mean going against his intended angle.

"Think before you speak, kid," Mavine tells him.

"Grrrrr..." Kobe glares at his stylist.

Arlenna watches Kobe and Mavine insult each other.

"Don't worry, dear," says Valentine. "Just do what's best for you, and you'll be fine." He gives Arlenna a few pats on her shoulder.

Arlenna nods and slowly relaxes from the tension Kobe is creating.

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District Four Tribute**

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District One Tribute**

"Hey there, hot chick," Argentum calls to Jeanne, who is facing against his direction.

Jeanne turns around slowly to see Aregntum, who makes a smug face.

"Your stylist made you so angelic."

Jeanne blinks her eyes and says, "Thanks?"

Argentum approaches her to introduce, "Argentum."

"Jeanne." They shake hands.

"So, you're from Four?"

"And you're from One?"

"Your costume is amazing!"

"I know. I don't know what to say about yours."

"Oh you know, it's just a part of it. I still have props."

"Ooh! I have props too."

From the speakers outside, someone says, "The Tribute Parade will start in three minutes. Tributes, please be on your respective rides."

"May the odds be ever in your favor, chick!" Argentum says in a wink.

"See you in training, silver boy," says Jeanne with a wink and her tongue out on the side.

Soon enough, all the tributes are on their respective rides, ready to show themselves and their outfits.

* * *

AN:

This chapter was easier to write. It just felt smooth writing everything. :3 By the way, the official list for tributes, mentors, escorts, and stylists is in this chapter, if you haven't noticed.

Once again, special thanks to CelticGames4 for Belvedere Spiros; AmericanPi for Belle, Sophia, and Valerie Tristen; SilverflowerXRavenpaw for Latisha Morwan, Marjorita Tisho, and Totochan Lierro; ShunKazamis-Girl for Anakyn Skyavich; and Golden Moon Huntress for Bonita Fern and Valentine Itis. The other stylists not listed here are mine.

Any predictions with the outfits and angles, or any prediction overall? How about the POV format near the end of the chapter? I'll likely have the next chapter out on Sunday night or Monday. My "summer" goal will be complete after that. If I fail to update it on Sunday or Monday for some reason, it should at least be within next week, since it's just the first week of school. I haven't typed anything for the next chapter yet, and I don't know how long it'll take me to describe every detail. I just hope I finish everything, including editing, before school starts for me on Monday. XP

Hope you enjoyed this chapter! :D I'll make sure you enjoy the next one too!

P.S. I'll be closing the poll by next chapter, so vote now if you haven't. :3


	26. Tribute Parade: It's Time to Shine!

Isis Ambergayle is on a balcony of a building near where the Tribute Parade will take place. Some audiences are on the street below. Others are also inside the buildings, likely watching from the rooftops and balconies. She sees the audience excited to get the parade started.

"Isis?"

She turns around to see a familiar face, her predecessor. "Sylvia!"

"Hey! Ready for the parade?"

"Absolutely!"

"Great! Mind if I join you tonight?"

"No problem! Now I'm even more excited to have a co-host for the Tribute Parade."

"Awesome! Do the people here have an extra mic?"

"I do."

They get help from the other technical media people to get the second mic to work as well.

"Mic. Test. Three. Two. One." Sylvia taps on the mic as it's not working. She speaks again, "Mic. Test. Three. Two. One." She gives them a thumbs up as the mic is now functioning.

Isis announces, "The tribute parade will start in three minutes. Tributes, please be on your respective rides."

"You're doing good! I'm so proud of you."

"Aw come on, it's nothing. I'm already used to this."

"My baby has grown up so fast." Evezleya goes closer to Isis and gives her some pats and a hug.

An avox goes to them and gives them a drink each.

"Thank you!" says Evezleya. She toasts with Isis and says, "Cheers!"

"Cheers!"

They chit chat a little bit more until it was thirty seconds before time.

"Here we go! Here we go!" Isis excitedly says.

"Three, two, one," counts down Evezleya.

"Welcome everyone to the Tribute Parade of the 140th Annual Hunger Games! I am Isis Ambergayle, your host for tonight. Here with me is your ever-loving former masters of ceremonies, Evezleya von Evezelle."

"It's wonderful to have a co-host like you, Isis! You know, I miss doing this, and I wasn't even up here doing all the talking last year."

"True. Twelve years having you as the masters of ceremonies has been delightful."

"Isis, tonight is not about me though. We're here to talk about the twenty-four wonderful tributes of this year's hunger games."

"Oh yes! That's what we're here. Now shall we get started?"

The music starts playing in the background, and the crowd's cheers are growing louder.

"We always start with District One," says Evezleya. "And this year, they are..."

"They are shining bright!" Isis continues.

As the golden chariot rolls out to the scene, two shining objects on the chariot remain stationary. Upon closer inspection, both tributes are not there waving like they are expected to.

"But wait, where are they?" Evezleya wonders.

The two shining objects, which are gold and silver tombs in a standing position, start moving. One tomb opens up and it shows Annaleigh completely in gold. Her skin is all gold, even her hair, but she is covered with countless strips of a paper-like cloth that are covered in silver. It almost looks like a strapless dress. She smiles and waves to the crowd in a sweet manner, while Argentum gets out of his tomb as well.

"Wow!" reacts Evezleya. "District One this year sent two mummies from the ancient times."

"They are covered in gold and silver, as the district of luxury," added Isis.

Evezleya adds, "Aside from that, when they mummify people in the ancient times, they leave valuable things with them, especially if they are coming from a higher class."

Argentum acts friendly and charming. He's delighted to be there coated in silver from head to toe beside his silver tomb. He is wrapped with several strips of the same material, but in gold. It almost looks like a chiton. He ecstatically waved to the crowd and blows some kisses to them.

"Well done, District One!" says Evezleya.

"Wanna see what District Two has this year?" says Isis.

"Of course!"

"They are right over there!" Isis points at a shiny midnight blue chariot. It carries the tributes in two different outfits.

"They are fighting!" says Evezleya in a shocked manner.

On one side is a small figure on a full shiny gray metal armor. It is inspired after those from the medieval times. The knight raises the helmet's cover to reveal that it is Rufus. On the other side of the chariot is a figure half a foot taller than the knight. It is Brenna, but with green skin and a lot of makeup. There is fake blood on her face and on some parts of her body, while the makeup near her face makes her look injured, wounded, probably dead, or rather like the undead. The silky medieval-inspired dress she is wearing is white and reddish brown. The dress is tighter on the stomach area, and it is dirtied and ripped on many sides. While wearing the reddish right contact lens and the almost-white left contact lens, Brenna acts loosely and crazily, pretending to attack Rufus the knight who tries to fight off Brenna.

"This is so cool!" says Isis. "We have a knight and a housewife turned zombie inspired from the..."

"The Middle Ages!" Evezleya continues.

From the chariot, Brenna holds a bottle and smashes it to the chariot wildly. The chariot is now on fire! Well, at least it looks like it.

"Whoa! Did you see that?" Isis reacts in a surprised manner.

"I'd be blind if I didn't," says Evezleya. "It looks like the chariot is on fire."

Zombie Brenna remains calm and stops fighting Knight Rufus. He waves to crowd and bows to the audience, feeling honored to be in the Capitol. Meanwhile, Brenna looks at some of the audience and makes a fierce face with a salute.

"It's all an act!?" Isis comments.

"That... was HOT!" Evezleya adds. "Fake fire on the fighting knight and zombie!"

"I know right!? I hate to interrupt you from that amazing performance, but District Three is coming."

"Their chariot is in a dark purplish blue, covered with small light yellow stars. Hmmm... it reminds me of bedtime stories."

Tira waves to the crowd in a regal manner while Chip looks at the crowd in a strong and cute manner. They are dressed as dark gray robots wearing purple bedtime clothes covered with yellow stars. Tira has a glass object floating above her worn from the back part inside the robot outfit, while Chip has a tail similar to their outfit's design. Their robot outfits have hard shells in the shape of an arc that look like capes, but with the width of the shells decreasing from head to toe. They each have three shells, and Chip's "tail" is also made of that shell.

"That kid is so ADORABLE!" Isis reacts.

"I like how he is trying to be strong yet he is coming out as cute," comments Sylvia.

"Meanwhile, I love that relaxed yet professional manner Tira waves to the crowd."

"Oh wait, what's this?"

Tira and Chip stand in a serious manner, like it's a stance. They put their arms forward and press the dark red button on their outfits. They each make a quick and graceful spin before Tira faces the left side then bends forward. Chip does the same too while holding on to Tira by the hips. The shells on their backs start to enclose them and the true form of their combined outfit reveals a telescope.

"OH MY GOD!" Evezleya reacts. "OH MY GOD!"

Isis responds, "OH MY GOSH! DID YOU SEE..."

"I KNOW! I KNOW! THAT WAS AMAZING! WHO ARE THEIR STYLISTS!?"

"IN AN INCREDIBLE FEAT BY DISTRICT THREE, THESE CHILDREN ON THEIR BEDTIME OUTFITS ARE NOT JUST CHILDREN WHO WANT TO DREAM ABOUT BECOMING ROBOTS."

"THEY ARE ROBOTS WHO SHOOT FOR THE... OH MY GOD!"

"OH MY GOSH! OH MY GOSH!"

The shells on their combined outfit is then covered with light, colored in light blue stars spinning around the telescope.

"THEY ARE LITTLE CHILDREN WHO SHOOT FOR THE STARS IN THIS AMAZINGLY ASTOUNDING ONE OF KIND OUTFIT YOU CAN CALL A TELESCOPE!"

"I AM SCREAMING RIGHT NOW! THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST OUTFITS THEY HAVE EVER HAD IN YEARS."

"I NEVER HAD SOMETHING THIS BIG IN MY TIME AS A HOST! THE STYLISTS FOR THESE TWO HAVE DEFINITELY NAILED THE STARRY THEME."

"WHAT A CLEVER OUTFIT!" Isis wipes off some tears from her face.

"Oh my god. You're crying too?" Evezleya wipes off her tears too, hoping not to ruin her makeup.

"You can never beat those little robots transforming into a telescope with stars all over them," Isis tells.

As Tira and Chip return to their original positions and angles, the District Four chariot painted in two-thirds sea blue and one-third sky blue from bottom to top shows up.

"Oh, we have District Four up next," Isis says.

Evezleya says, "Let's not overshadow them just because they came after that telescope."

On the said chariot is Jeanne, sitting on top of a gold and red treasure chest in a seductive and flirtatious manner. She winks to some people in the crowd and blows a few sexy kisses while in her blue green grass skirt made of different types of fiber as well as her strapless bra composed purely of different types of tropical white, pink, and red flowers woven together. She is wearing two pink, green, and white lei garlands, one as a necklace and another as a headdress. On the other side of the chariot is Horden in his blue pirate outfit, composed of a white long sleeved polo without the collars and the top two buttons, silky federal blue pants, black leather vest, brown leather belt, dark brown leather boots, federal blue coat reaching his knees, black pirate hat with a skull painted on the front, and a black eyepatch. He smiles and waves to the crowd, blowing a few kisses in hopes of catching the attention of some female sponsors.

Evezleya speaks, "Amazing! We have a Hawaiian lady and a pirate for District Four."

"Is Hawaiian the..."

"It's a historical place with volcanoes, culture, and all."

"Nice!"

Jeanne flirtatiously gets some coins from the treasure chest and drops them on Horden's hands, as she still refuses to touch him since he's a janitor coming from a lower class. Horden gets a handful of coins from the chest and sprinkles them on the chariot's floor, like what a pirate would do. They then throw some coins to the crowds.

"Over here!" says Evezleya.

Horden gives her a wink and she reaches for the coins from the balcony.

"YES! These coins were from Horden Tanase of District Four."

Isis continues, "Up next, we have District Five in their black and electric yellow chariot."

"Those electric yellows seem to glow. In fact, they are blinking in style."

"Neon lights! Those are neon lights."

Ciara and Filly are on the next chariot dressed in a black spandex tight suit with neon yellow lightning bolts blinking wildly around the suit.

"Wow! They even have crowns," Sylvia comments.

Isis adds, "Yup! Both Ciara and Filly are wearing crowns made with these lightning bolts put together. But wait, they are both holding lightning bolts too."

"No wait, look closely."

As the two try to observe what they're holding, Ciara plays the neon yellow saxophone that looks somewhat like a lightning bolt. While Ciara is busy with the saxophone, Filly enjoys the process, smiling and waving to the crowd to get as much sponsors as he can.

"Music!" says Isis.

"She IS a saxophone player after all," says Evezleya.

This time, Ciara waves and blows a few kisses to the crowd while Filly tries to play the neon yellow flute that looks more like a lightning bolt.

"More music from this district is making my night better!" Isis adds. "I know we have parade background music, but their music just adds up and supplements the background music."

"Now those were wonderful musical performances," Sylvia says. "A blind person would appreciate that."

"Indeed. Let's move to District Six, shall we?"

"The chariot has different shades of gray, probably replicating some metallic transportation."

"What can you say? It's a chariot after all."

"Oh my god! You're right. Hahahaha!"

On that chariot is Kylie and Thomas. Kylie is wearing a silver-esque gray short-sleeved blouse under a dark blue vest bordering black for the top. She has a dark blue skirt over her black slacks, both made from the same silky material. On her head is a dark blue cylinder with silver circular lines and a short translucent black bill. She pumps her left arm while making a few sexy winks to the crowd. Thomas is "below" her, however, dressed as a blue train. His face is colored silver-esque gray while he has a black chimney on the head. His neck is colored black, and the rest of him is the rest of the train, in blue. He stands up from his low position and transforms into a blue robot that is happy, excited, and curious for the parade.

"WOW!" exclaims Isis.

"Another robot!" Sylvia reacts.

"That was so cool though. You'd think he is only a train and probably stuck as a train."

"Yeah, but if you look closely, that's not just a one-piece plastic costume of a train. That is a ROBOT that transformed from an accurately structured train."

"His back says it all," points out Isis. Thomas' back side of the costume is the top part of the train, and the wheels have been folded away at the moment as he is smiling to the crowd.

"Aha! I remember now."

"What?"

"Thomas is dressed as Thomas the Train!"

"Who?"

"You don't know Thomas the Train?"

"Not really."

"Awww... I guess I'll show you some of my toys later."

"Toys!?"

"Maybe pictures. Whatever. Let's move on to District Seven."

The green chariot is covered with some leaves, and it looks more like a bush from afar. Susie is wearing a dress made of paper. It is multicolored in green, yellow, orange, and light blue. The poofy bottom part of the dress is patterned with leaves of different colors, mostly with pink, green, and orange, but there are also a few branches on the design. As for Orion, he is wearing a formal attire also made of paper, which includes a white polo made of paper, a paper vest over it with the same color theme as Susie's dress, and a pair of paper pants similar to the leaf motifs on Susie's dress, except it slowly fades to brown from three-fourths of the slacks down. He silently waves to the crowd.

"Very creative output from District Seven!" Isis says.

"I know right?" responds Evezleya. "They may be on typical formal attires, but as part of the lumber district, District Seven also gives us paper. If you know how important paper is, you will keep District Seven in mind."

"Oh! I once saw this ad about a man telling his wife to switch to tablets and other electronics because she's solving sudoku, taking notes, and doing everything on paper. At the end of the video, her husband was asking for toilet paper, and she gave him a picture of a roll of toilet paper on his tablet!"

"HAHAHAHA! This is why paper is SO important."

"Oh also, if you notice their color scheme and leaf motifs, you can see that the theme is on the four seasons."

"You're right!" realizes Evezleya. "Those do show spring, summer, fall, and winter."

"Isn't that cool?"

"It is, Isis!"

Susie, still in fear of Kevin, tries to show strength and fearlessness. She faces the crowd but shakes in anxiety. She can't give what she doesn't have, so she just tries to no avail. As she turns to her right, she accidentally gets hit in the nose by Orion's fingers. She looks at him shocked, but Orion just dabs left and right while on the chariot.

"Is he dabbing? IS HE DABBING!?" Isis says.

"YES, YES HE IS DABBING!" Evezleya confirms.

"Oh my gosh!"

Orion continues to dab left and right, and he is getting the crowd's attention with his delivery.

"Holy cow! I LOVE HIM!" Sylvia says.

"He's sure to get some sponsors for that," adds Isis. "I think it's District Eight's turn to shine." She points at the next chariot appearing.

The District Eight chariot is draped with different shades of violet and red, while not covering parts of the original black color of the chariot. Lainey smiles proudly in her glossy oversized crimson robe with a hood that is black on the inside. She has makeup that makes her look tough, evil, and intimidating. She is also wearing red contact lenses to raise her intimidation level. Ingeo, on the other hand, is dressed in a soft cottony purple robe with stars. It is slightly oversized too. He wears a pointy purple hat with stars as well while holding a shiny wooden stick with a small yellow star on the end he is not holding.

"A witch and a wizard!" Isis says.

"I love how District Eight made great use of their textile industry with the witch and wizard outfits," comments Evezleya.

"Those are very clever, I have to say."

"They also look good on them."

Lainey shows her tough side with a prouder and fake-evil smile. Ingeo follows with a smile too, but he can't replicate the proud and tough manner as he is feeling more nervous. Lainey takes the hood of her robe off to reveal her soft brown hair. She takes out a crimson red pointy hat decorated with hearts on a slightly lighter shade of red and wears it. She also takes out a deep red orb in the shape of a heart and smashes it on the chariot's floor. Red smoke surrounds the District Eight chariot.

"That was awesome!" Isis says. "Doesn't it remind you of the flaming chariot District Two has, Evezleya."

"Yes and no, because they are two different things with similar strategies."

"These are really cool. Now it's time to see District Nine's."

District Nine's chariot is coated in gold and bronze, as shiny versions of yellow and brown respectively. The little Macy twirls and skips happily on her place. She is wearing a sleeveless wheat dress along with a wheat headdress on top. It is knit in a simple manner. Beside her is a giant corn, wrapped in green tulle and fiber. No Dorian is visible for the audience.

"She's so cute!" says Isis.

"I know right!?" Evezleya replies.

"It may be simple, but adorable little Macy here happily smiles and waves to the crowd."

Macy uses her cuteness to her advantage as she continues to skip and twirl. Not too long after, she takes out a bundle of wheat stalks tied properly together. She uses it as a wand to tap on the corn beside her. The green material peels away as Dorian jumps out of it in a charming manner with his yellow and brown long-sleeved plaid polo along with his plaid slacks in the same color and pattern. He puts on his brown cowboy hat, but takes it off to bow to the audience. Once he wears it again, he waves to the crowd charmingly and confidently. She gives Macy a pat at the back, and her dress glitters slightly. She continues to skip adorably, and not long after, her large wings slowly pop out from her back. They are made of wheat, weaved intricately.

"WOW!" surprisingly says Evezleya.

Isis comments, "Now that... that I didn't see coming."

"Macy is apparently not just some happy wheat girl twirling and skipping in place."

"She is the wheat angel! She must've grown those wings after helping the corn grow."

"Speaking of the corn, that is a very nice way to show the district's industry."

"Both of them together made such an enlightening performance!"

"Now is District Ten's turn."

The next chariot that rolls out is covered in brown leather. Arlenna is wearing a brown leather fringed dress. She has a bright blue beaded necklace that serves as the culturally appropriate jewelry that goes with the outfit. She is also wearing a brown and white feather headdress on top of her long straight brown hair that is braided back. Beside her is Kobe, who wears a brown leather fringed shirt with a pair of pants of the same style. He also wears a similar headdress, but with the feathers in black and white instead of brown and white. Both their fringed outfits have a belt of native patterns around the waist. They both have identical face paints too, with two lines on each side of the face, one light brown and one dark brown per side. They both have traditional brown moccasins to cover their feet, but those are not too visible to the parts of the crowd that are too far.

"Amazing!" comments Evezleya. "It brings me back to the past somehow."

"District Ten has shown us a wonderful representation of history, with their native outfits from several centuries ago," Isis describes.

"It's cool how we got to see them here. I haven't seen them in so long."

"It's called a lost part of the past, Evezleya."

Arlenna stood confidently and waved to the audience, while Kobe looked down in an angry manner. He glares at the crowd from time to time, but he is looking down more often than not for being so bitter with what his stylist told him.

"Wow, we're almost done, Isis!"

"Yes we are. Now let's get to District Eleven."

Painted in white and green, the District Eleven chariot holds Owen and Poppy. Owen is wearing a white toga underneath a green chiton while also having laurel leaves on top of his head. He holds a cornucopia with fake fruits and vegetables in it. Poppy, standing beside Owen, smiles and waves to the crowd energetically. She is wearing a white and green dress that has flowers and butterflies scattered on different parts of the dress. She has pink heels that can't be seen by the audience that are too far, but her colorful fruit-bearing flowers headdress is visible to all. She blows some kisses from time to time.

"District Eleven seems to be dressed nicely too this year," comments Evezleya.

"I like the butterfly dress," says Isis. "And oh, the cornucopia with perishable goods for props are great!"

"I like how Poppy seems calm and warm-hearted as she tries to get the crowd's attention," adds Evezleya.

To add to that warm-hearted vibe, Poppy holds Owen's hand and raises it up with hers. The crowd loves it, showing that they are in this together. Owen smiles shyly to the crowd with that attention.

"That was great!" Isis comments.

"Okay!" says Evezleya. "Last but not the least, bring it out for District Twelve!"

The metallic dark gray, but soot-covered, chariot rolls out. Corinna charmingly waves to the crowd while she and Dante are on their black miner costumes. They have a smooth and shiny texture. They have dark gray overalls over the black long-sleeved shirt. They each wear a pair of shiny black gloves and a yellow hard too. Their faces have dust on them for a more natural look. Dante wants to make himself small and forgettable, so he holds on to the front of the chariot and keeps his head down. Corinna tries to hold his hand and raise it up too, but she only ends up confidently raising the lantern he was holding. She gives him the pickaxe instead, but he refuses, since he's holding a shovel anyway, although he's hiding it too. Corinna can't do anything about him not cooperating, so she makes herself confident, charming, and likable to the crowd.

Isis announces, "Corinna raises up the lantern of hopes and dreams!"

"Corinna, over here!" Evezleya shouts from her balcony.

Corinna sees her and waves before blowing a kiss.

"Awww yes!" says Evezleya before twirling around once.

Isis announces, "District Twelve this year has a mining costume, but with props too."

"That lantern should surely light their way to the finish. I'm so proud of my children!"

"Yay we're done! That's all twelve districts."

"And that... people, pets, and everyone else, is the end of the Tribute Parade!"

"No it is not."

"Why so?"

"Because they will all meet Doctor President from her balcony."

"Let's switch the live broadcast then."

The live broadcast indeed switches to the president from the balcony she's standing on. She clears her throat before she speaks.

"Citizens of Panem, it is with great honor for me to welcome the twenty-four tributes of the 140th Hunger Games to the Capitol. As I have said in past years, I apologize that you are here not for fun, but rather for a competition... of a lifetime. Well, maybe some of you may have volunteered for the thrill or honor, but I hope you will all enjoy your stay here in the Capitol for the next couple of days. Thank you."

The live broadcast switches back to the two hosts.

"Well, there you have it folks!" starts Isis.

Evezleya continues, "It is officially the end of the Tribute Parade of the 140th Hunger Games, correct?"

"Yes it is indeed. We will see you all again in the Tribute Parade next year."

"But we will see these tributes again during the interviews, correct?"

"Yes we will, Evezleya! I am very excited to meet and talk to each of them in person."

"I know! If you enjoyed it last year, this year won't be any different with our twenty-four wonderful tributes."

"Of course! With that, this is the end of the Tribute Parade. Good night everyone!"

"Good night, and I hope you all enjoyed the parade like we did!"

"Yes, we hope you enjoyed it too."

"We want to know your thoughts, so let us know what you think! Just state everything you want to tell us in the comments section down below."

Isis looks at Evezleya questioningly.

"There should be a comments section down below!"

"What are you talking about? This is live on TV right?"

"Yes, yes it is, but there has to be a comments section down below." Evezleya winks.

"Whatever," responds Isis. "Once again, good night everyone!"

"Good night Panem!" ends Evezleya. "And Happy Hunger Games!"

* * *

AN:

Yay, my "summer" goal is complete! :D Credits to ShunKazamis-Girl for giving the idea of the D11 costumes. For all costumes, I followed some of what's on the form, but I made most of them better, or at least I hope I did! :D

I have closed the poll. You can check out the final results if you want while it's still there. The optional guess-the-submitter challenge is still ongoing, so you can still go for it if you want some sponsor points.

Speaking of sponsor points, I have the updated sponsor points list below. I'm not sure whether I'll be updating the price list for sponsor goodies since I made that more than a year ago, but I'll most likely be copying the everyday increasing prices from tracelynn's Blow Me Over and CelticGames4's Danzón.

This story has been running for more than a year already, and I'm not yet in the arena for so many reasons, so if you've stayed with me all the way here, I greatly appreciate your support. :3 Reviewing is not required, but I'd like to know whether you're still reading or not. For this, we're gonna have a check-in or checkpoint. This has been happening in a lot of stories lately, but I first saw this from goldie031, so thanks for the idea! You can answer the questions through PM, in a new PM thread or in any old PM thread available. I'd prefer an old PM thread so not too many message threads will clutter in my inbox, but a new message thread is fine too. I won't mind the message subject if it's an old one. Just make sure to have "Check-in" or "Checkpoint" on the 1st line of the message, so I can easily see it. If it's a new message thread, then just indicate "Check-in" or "Checkpoint" for the subject. There's gonna be at least another one some time in the future.

The check-in questions for tributes are supposedly parts of the form I forgot to ask, but with an additional fun question:  
(1) What is your tribute's sexuality? This may or may not be used in the story, depending on the subplots. I only have Macy's so far, so this can be skipped for Macy's submitter.  
(2) On a scale of 1 to 10, what is your tribute's stamina? Again, I may or may not use this.  
(3) The fun question! If your tribute has a chance to freely go around the Capitol for 1 day, where would they go?

If you submitted at least one stylist, you can answer this question too. You don't have to since I can decide on my own with creative liberty, but if you wanna fill this part out yourself, it'd be great too!  
Question: Will they stay with their tribute for the nights or will they go home? It can be a mix of both too.

If you're a random reader who doesn't have a stylist or a tribute in the story, I wanna know your thoughts on the story so far. :D

Now we're getting to the fun part! I'd like to know which outfit stood out for you and which tribute stood out with the angle. If you have other predictions, feel free to state them too! :D

As always, I hope you enjoyed the chapter! :3 Now for the updated sponsor points.

CelticGames4 - 600  
Golden Moon Huntress - 555  
SilverflowerXRavenpaw - 545  
DaughterOfTigris - 535  
AmericanPi - 460  
HogwartsDreamer113 - 380  
LiveFreeOrDie - 325  
DarthDyos - 270  
goldie031 - 205  
dreams and desperation - 155  
tracelynn - 90  
MMJ. Rich - 85  
ThomasHungerGamesFan - 80  
PotatoInUrFace - 55  
IVolunteerAsAuthor - 45  
Witch of Mockingjay - 45  
SilverAshes13 - 45  
Mystical Pine Forest - 45  
LokiThisIsMadness - 40  
Beauthg03 - 30  
JaymanRepublic - 30  
Alexcias - 30  
Xx-Katerina-xX - 25  
Astronaughty - 20  
Too Lazy To Think Of Something - 20  
Calebbeers21 - 15  
ShunKazamis-Girl - 15  
Iamnotatimelord* - 15


	27. Night 1: Tired

AN: Ever wonder what happens on the night after the parade? Here's a chapter about it!

One other thing: This chapter may be more than 9000 words, but there are a lot of character tags in bold like this one on the careers right below this AN, so don't be too intimidated by the word count.

Enjoy! :3

* * *

 **Annaleigh St. Cloud (17) - District 1 Tribute**

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1 Tribute**

 **Brenna O'Hare (18) - District 2 Tribute**

 **Rufus Cornelii (12) - District 2 Tribute**

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4 Tribute**

 **Horden Tanase (17) - District 4 Tribute**

Right after the parade, Annaleigh gathered tributes from career districts to meet.

"I gathered us here just so we'll know one another ahead of time. I'm Annaleigh, and I like playing chess."

"Jeanne, I love training and makeup."

"Nice to meet you all. I am Horden, aspiring ship captain."

"Janitor," Jeanne mutters softly.

"And yes, currently a ship janitor." Horden observes their reactions to this. Brenna and Rufus are not even looking at any of them. Annaleigh slightly nods her head in an impressed manner. Jeanne rolls her eyes in annoyance, and Argentum doesn't seem to care.

"Argentum Montgomery, but you can call me... yours." He holds Jeanne's hand upon saying the last word. Horden and Annaleigh are both noting this into their brains to keep an eye out on during training. Jeanne reacts in a flattered manner. "I like playing video games and going to parties."

There is silence among them for a while.

"Rufus. I like... anything when it's... hot." He makes a mild but evil smile.

"I'm Brenna. I love training." She says it softly that some of them can not hear it.

"Okay," says Annaleigh.

"We'll see you all tomorrow!" Jeanne and Annaleigh say in unison. They look into each other's eyes, with Jeanne tilting her head and Annaleigh analyzing Jeanne.

Annaleigh thinks, _So she wants to be leader? We'll discuss that tomorrow._

 _Who does she think she is!? She's just some bitch from One. Wait, she ain't a bitch yet. We can settle this tomorrow,_ Jeanne thinks.

With that, the expected career tributes set off to different directions, looking for their mentors.

 **Vector Pen Umbra (30) - District 7 Stylist**

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District 7 Tribute**

As they meet, they high five.

"HAHAHAHA! You were actually serious on that!?"

Orion dabs once more. "It's called delivery."

"HAHAHA! Anyway, I believe it'll be a positive impact for sponsors, so good for you!"

"Yeah!" They high five once more.

As they reach the backdoor entrance, they see the limousine door closing. It carries the people of Districts Five, Eight, Eleven, and Twelve.

"Please wait for the next one. Thank you!" says the person managing the limousines that come and go. He signals for the driver of the first one to go.

Not long after, the people from Districts Four, Nine, and Ten queue up too.

"Oh yeah, we need to look for your mentor and district partner." They leave the queue to do so.

Meanwhile, the people on queue for the next limousine interact.

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4 Tribute**

 **Horden Tanase (17)** **\- District 4 Tribute**

 **Tommy Rotterdam (28)** **\- District 4 Mentor**

 **Ezairlayne Aquaffee (54)** **\- District 4 Escort**

 **Belle Tristen (23) - District 4 Stylist**

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9 Tribute**

 **Dorian Belcorn (18) - District 9 Tribute**

 **Amaya Villanueva (56) - District 9 Mentor**

 **Bonita Fern (20) - District 9 Stylist**

 **Charlie Kale (31) - District 9 Stylist**

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10 Tribute**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10 Tribute**

 **Abraham Braunock (44) - District 10 Mentor**

Macy faces District Ten and says, "Hi! I'm Macy."

As Macy lets out a hand, Arlenna shakes it as the closest person to her. "Hi."

"What's your name?"

"Arlenna."

"How about you?"

"Fuck off!"

"Hey hey hey!" Abraham says. "She's being nice to you, Kobe."

"She's too happy."

"I didn't know you have a problem with being too happy," responds Macy.

Chay says, "The limousine's here!"

As District Four, the first ones on queue, enters the limousine, District Three shows up.

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3 Tribute**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3 Tribute**

 **Predicate Clause (20) - District 3 Escort**

 **Lorenzo Delcroix (24) - District 3 Mentor**

 **Sophia Tristen (23) - District 3 Stylist**

 **Anakyn Skyavich (34) - District 3 Stylist**

"Perfect timing!" says Renz.

"Will all of us fit in?" Anakyn asks.

"I think you'll be the last ones on this limo," responds Amaya.

"Great!" reacts Cate.

After people from those four districts enter, the limousine driver receives the signal to leave the venue.

"Hi! I'm Macy."

"Nice to meet you. I'm Tira." They then shake hands.

At the background Kobe rolls his eyes, while Dorian remains still beside Macy. He has thoughts of rolling his eyes too, but he'll do it internally for now.

"How about you?" Tira asks her seatmate in friendly manner.

She doesn't respond for a second or two. "Arlenna. Hi." She then shakes hands with Tira.

"What do you do at home?" Macy asks.

Tira replies, "I'm an electrician."

"Ooh! You must be good with wires and electricity."

"Yeah, I guess you can say that. Arlenna?"

 _I don't really wanna talk now, but I can do this until the end of the ride. I hope we're not going somewhere too far from here._ Arlenna clears her throat. "I run, on the track field."

"Wow!" Macy exclaims, "That means you're good with..."

"Speed," continues Tira.

"It's nice to see you three get along!" Amaya reacts.

"Yay!" says Macy.

Arlenna thinks, _I prefer being left alone though._

 **History Grenadine (39) - District 7 Mentor**

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7 Tribute**

Meanwhile back in the Remake Center, Districts One and Two have finally removed their costumes and makeups to be ready. They see District Six on queue. However, District Seven has some unexpected shenanigans to deal with.

"It's okay, Susie. I don't bite." History thinks, _Are you kidding me!? I'm not even supposed to be saying this to a seventeen-year-old for Snow's sake!_

Susie cowers in a corner of the room.

 _Kevin says, "She's not gonna bite you, she's gonna poison you first, then strangle you. You have to KILL HER before it's too late."_

As Susie shivers in fear, History is at the verge of giving up.

 **Vector Pen Umbra (30) - District 7 Stylist**

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District 7 Tribute**

 **Latisha Morwan (29) - District 7 Stylist**

"There you are!" Vector says.

History says, "Susie wouldn't listen to me, and we've been here for like... ten minutes."

"I'll be back to get some help," Vector says. "Orion, stay with your mentor."

"Aye aye!" Orion dabs right after. Vector dabs back then leaves. Latisha follows Vector for help.

It is silent for a while, before History asks, "You did well out there. I never had such a great time like you did on this part of the games."

Orion dabs once more. "Vector showed me how to do it."

"Oh, at least you had a fun stylist like Vector. My stylist, he was boring. He's big and hairy, like a bear. I vaguely remember him dressing like a bear sometimes. I think my district partner even called him 'Bearface.'"

"So you mean he's bear-ing?"

"That is not funny!"

"You were able to bear with him though."

"Oh my gosh! Stop."

Peacekeepers enter the room and carry Susie. She tries to resist, but it's no use.

Vector says, "Don't worry. They'll just help us bring her to the limo."

The four of them proceed to the limousine. The other three districts are waiting for them in the car.

 _This is embarrassing. I wish Wood was with me,_ History thinks.

After the four of them enter, the limousine is signaled to leave.

 **Ace Starling (32) - District 1 Mentor**

 **Cyrus Mackintosh (18) - District 2 Mentor**

 **Hazel Ciencius (15) - District 3 Mentor**

 **Delta Delta (38) - District 4 Mentor**

 **Caitlin Theardie (45) - District 5 Mentor**

 **Robert Royce (21) - District 6 Mentor**

 **Woodrow Stirling (21) - District 7 Mentor**

 **Karlasia Trappist (18) - District 8 Mentor**

 **Alana Tapiocassava (20) - District 9 Mentor**

 **Kylene Roa (25) - District 10 Mentor**

 **Jakobbo Langka (59) - District 11 Mentor**

 **Larry Rockenstein (37) - District 12 Mentor**

At the Tribute Center lobby, Ace, Cyrus, Hazel, Delta, Caitlin, Royce, Woodrow, Karla, Alana, Kylene, Jakobbo, and Larry are at the check-in counter. They wait for their rooms and keys. Unlike half a century back, tributes and mentors, and sometimes escorts and stylists, no longer stay in a building on their designated floors.

"They're coming!" Ace complains to the lady at the counter. "Where is our room and key!?"

"Madam, we are fixing your rooms. Kindly wait."

"Wait? WAIT!? You're telling me to WAIT!?"

"Us," corrects Royce.

"Shut up, Royce!"

"Don't get me started."

"Whatever!" Ace faces back the the lady. "You had all day, all week - wait no. YOU HAD ALL YEAR TO FIX THOSE ROOMS, AND YOU ARE STILL LETTING US WAIT!?"

"Madam Ace, please understand that we do not want to use sheets that are filled with dust mites. We-"

"You could've fixed it within the day!"

"They were watching the parade," butts in Royce. "I mean, who wouldn't?"

"Shut up Royce! Nobody asked for your opinion."

"Nobody asked you to yell at the lady too. You do know they'll be done by the time they get here, right?" Royce sips some orange juice.

Ace dosn't respond.

Cyrus adds, "Yeah, this isn't your first time mentoring. These people know it'll be ready by the time they get here."

"He's right," Royce agrees. "We're actually supposed to be at the Remake Center with our tributes. We would just rather wait here cozily with the luggage of our co-mentors. Oh wait, you don't have one. Oops."

Ace glares at Royce and raises her middle finger. As she turns back to the lady at the counter, Cyrus and Royce high five a few seconds after. Caitlin, Jakobbo, and Larry are still in their own worlds. Alana and Karla are chatting casually while Hazel and Kylene are comparing stationery. Delta and Woodrow are talking about the recent Tribute Parade.

 **Delta Delta (38) - District 4 Mentor**

 **Woodrow Stirling (21) - District 7 Mentor**

"I think the telescope was Anakyn's brainchild," Woodrow says.

"If you looked closely on the triplets' works, they have some kind of theme."

"What do you mean?"

"Maybe it's coincidence, but the one styling for the Eight girl has hearts, the one styling with Anakyn has stars, and the one who styled for Jeanne has flowers."

"I see."

"One of them focuses on brains, another one on brawn, and the last one on beauty. I'm not sure if they planned this or what, but I find it really cool."

"Concordia also dressed her tributes like how she dresses her husband."

"Yeah, shiny and all. She loves anything shiny, especially her husband."

"Speaking of Frank, I heard he's coming."

"He's with District One this year. Served District Six for ten years, took a break, and now he's replacing Tamara last minute. Poor Tamara."

"Yeah. I hope she's alright."

Karla and Alana get up from the sofa. They head to the coffee shop nearby. Hazel takes out another notebook with animal prints and shows it to Kylene.

 **Hazel Ciencius (15) - District 3 Mentor**

 **Kylene Roa (25) - District 10 Mentor**

Kylene asked, "Where'd you get that?"

"Anakyn gave it to me after I won."

"You're lucky to have an escort like him. My escort was a conspiracy theorist. All she cared about was District Thirteen probably preparing for another uprising."

"I thought District Thirteen is dead?"

"Exactly! They even used the dead district as the arena right after the Mockingjay Rebellion."

"I don't remember that."

"It's the 76th Hunger Games. The whole underground district after the bombing was used as the arena."

"Hmmm... I have a vague idea of that now."

"The eighteen-year-old boy from Eight won that year, but he mysteriously disappeared after mentoring for the 77th Games."

"I think I remember that in history class."

"Well, it's a long way back, and I only found out about this during my time as a mentor."

 **Karlasia Trappist (18) - District 8 Mentor**

 **Alana Tapiocassava (20) - District 9 Mentor**

Karla and Alana are served two cups of coffee in the coffee shop. The cups of coffee are shortly followed by a cheesecake, a croissant, and a mooncake.

"Mooncake?" Alana offers.

"Mooncake?" Karla questions.

"You should try it if you haven't." Alana slices the small golden layered pastry into eight slices. The inside is brown, and some slices have a small slice of egg yolk inside them.

Karla takes a small slice and puts it in her mouth. "Hmmm... not bad."

"This is the ordinary kind. There are more variations of it."

"I guess we can try them next time."

Alana looks at her watch. "They should be here soon."

"Who, the tributes?"

"Yeah."

 **Francisco Specular (48) - District 1 Escort**

 **Concordia Speculoos-Specular (47) - District 1 Stylist**

 **Annaleigh St. Cloud (17) - District 1 Tribute**

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1 Tribute**

A man dressed completely in gold gives Concordia a peck on the cheek. His blazer, slacks, undershirt, necktie, top hat, and basically everything else is gold, even his skin from head to toe.

"If you haven't met my husband, this sweetheart of mine is Frank."

"Halloo!" he says in a singsong tone.

"We were escorts since the 129th Games. He was in Six, and I was in Twelve, and we met during our free times."

"We dated for five years before we got married."

"And now, we're serving the same district."

They both hug each other warm and tight. Although Concordia doesn't mention it to her tributes, she was escort for five years before she first became a stylist on the 134th Games. It's her seventh year as a stylist, and she enjoys this job better than the escorting job. As for Frank, he stopped after the 138th Games, his tenth year, as District Six's escort. He is currently a substitute escort for One, but he is still thinking whether he should continue escorting or not after this year.

 **Joan Ho (26) - District 2 Mentor**

 **Leif Ray Khan (27) - District 2 Escort**

 **Brenna O'Hare (18) - District 2 Tribute**

 **Rufus Cornelii (12) - District 2 Tribute**

Brenna looks down, thinking on her own. The same goes for Rufus, but he's looking at the window.

Joan uncomfortably watches this interaction. _This is not normal. My tributes always talk to each other, or maybe almost always at least._

Leif says, "Hey hey!" Leif snaps his fingers near Brenna and Rufus. "Wanna play board games later?"

No response. He waits, and Rufus looks to him then shrugs, before looking back at the window again.

Brenna pretends to sleep. _I don't feel like interacting with anybody, so no thanks?_

Leif awkwardly remains silent after that.

Joan just looks at him with pity. It's a situation even she isn't used to. _Oh well,_ she thinks.

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12 Tribute**

 **Dante Blackwell (14) - District 12 Tribute**

 **Evezleya von Evezelle (48) - District 12 Escort**

 **Totochan Lierro (35) - District 12 Stylist**

 **Anino Gogogogh (45) - District 12 Stylist**

On the earliest limousine ride to the Tribute Center, Totochan and Anino are asleep near the rest of District Twelve, while Dante stares at the window.

"So you mean the world is round like the moon?" Corinna asks.

"Yes," replies Evezleya. "A lot of things outside of this world are round, but some of them aren't. They're shaped like potatoes."

"Potatoes!?"

"Yeah. It's not very edgy, but it's not round as well."

"Do you have an example?"

"The moons of Mars."

"Is that the red planet?"

"Yeah. That planet has two moons."

"Really? How come we only have one?"

"Hmmm... that's a tough question to answer. You see, the moons pick the planet, not the other way around."

"Oh! I always thought Earth is the only planet that has a moon."

"Look outside, we're here!" Evezleya alerts.

The other people in the limousine heard her, and they wake up those who were asleep.

"Are you excited?" asks Evezleya.

"I think so," replies Corinna.

As the limousine stops in front of two buildings of the same height right beside each other, someone opens the door. District Eleven is the first to exit.

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11 Tribute**

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11 Tribute**

 **Calient Racha-Basco (40) - District 11 Escort**

 **Marjorita Tisho (23) - District 11 Stylist**

 **Canvas MacMaquinMash (32) - District 11 Stylist**

Calient says, "We must look for your mentor. The keys to our room should be with him.

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12 Tribute**

 **Dante Blackwell (14) - District 12 Tribute**

 **Evezleya von Evezelle (48) - District 12 Escort**

 **Totochan Lierro (35) - District 12 Stylist**

 **Anino Gogogogh (45) - District 12 Stylist**

"Larry should have the keys. If not, then the staff haven't finished cleaning the rooms," says Evezleya.

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5 Tribute**

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5 Tribute**

 **Magnette Quirlix (27) - District 5 Mentor**

 **Valtron Deja (42) - District 5 Stylist**

"Let's hope the keys are with Caitlin now." Maggie hops out of the ride after everyone else in her district did.

 **Lainey Sash (18) - District 8 Tribute**

 **Ingeo Olefin (15) - District** **8 Tribute**

 **Olaf Rossburgh (40) - District 8 Mentor**

 **Svwyevwrierl Traversal (27) - District 8 Stylist**

 **Viktorio Antonio Mario Polyhaima (43) - District 8 Escort**

"Let's look for Karla," Olaf says.

 **Ace Starling (32) - District 1 Mentor**

 **Cyrus Mackintosh (18) - District 2 Mentor**

 **Delta Delta (38) - District 4 Mentor**

 **Caitlin Theardie (45) - District 5 Mentor**

 **Robert Royce (21) - District 6 Mentor**

 **Woodrow Stirling (21) - District 7 Mentor**

 **Larry Rockenstein (37) - District 12 Mentor**

At the lobby, Ace submissively sits down and wait. Cyrus and Royce are playing a video game while waiting. Caitlin is staring at the stairs nearby, imagining it in a different way. Woodrow reads his book and Larry is fast asleep, while Delta spots the first districts to arrive at the lobby, for being the most observant.

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11 Tribute**

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11 Tribute**

 **Calient Racha-Basco (40) - District 11 Escort**

 **Marjorita Tisho (23) - District 11 Stylist**

 **Canvas MacMaquinMash (32) - District 11 Stylist**

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12 Tribute**

 **Dante Blackwell (14) - District 12 Tribute**

 **Evezleya von Evezelle (48) - District 12 Escort**

 **Totochan Lierro (35) - District 12 Stylist**

 **Anino Gogogogh (45) - District 12 Stylist**

Delta wakes Larry up.

"Larry boy," Evezleya calls. "Let's leave our stuff in the room and get us some dinner."

Larry nods then gets up from the sofa.

"Do you have the keys?"

Larry shakes his head.

Evezleya goes to the counter, "District Twelve."

The lady at the counter gives Evezleya the keys.

"Thank you very much!" Evezleya then turns to the rest of her district. "Follow me." They all head to the back lobby of the twin towers' ground floor.

Ace gets up and asks for the keys as well.

The lady at the counter replies, "Ma'am, we can't give you the keys until your district has arrived."

"This is not fair! How come this was okay before!?"

"Ma'am, there was a misunderstanding that time, so we changed the system..."

"That was not a misunderstanding!"

"Ma'am, your co-mentor was looking for you."

"He was just overreacting! Give me the keys!"

"Sorry ma'am, but I have the right to say no."

"UGH!" Ace kicks the sofa in frustration. "Ow!"

"Before I get the key, where is Jakobbo?" Calient asks.

Delta says, "He went to the washroom, but he's been there for like..." She checks her watch. "Twenty minutes?"

"Alright." He turns to the rest of his district. "All of you stay here. I'll look for Jak."

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5 Tribute**

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5 Tribute**

 **Magnette Quirlix (27) - District 5 Mentor**

 **Valtron Deja (42) - District 5 Stylist**

 **Lainey Sash (18) - District 8 Tribute**

 **Ingeo Olefin (15) - District 8 Tribute**

 **Olaf Rossburgh (40) - District 8 Mentor**

 **Svwyevwrierl Traversal (27) - District 8 Stylist**

 **Viktorio Antonio Mario Polyhaima (43) - District 8 Escort**

Delta sees more people from the other districts.

"Karla is at the coffee shop," she tells Olaf.

Olaf responds, "Oh okay. Uh, Trav, can you look for Karla? You know what she looks like, right?"

"Yes, no problem!" Trav replies.

Caitlin gets up and claims the keys.

"Now what?" asks Ciara.

"Back lobby," Maggie says.

As they leave, Karla and Alana are rushing from the coffee shop.

 **Karlasia Trappist (18) - District 8 Mentor**

 **Alana Tapiocassava (20) - District 9 Mentor**

 **Svwyevwrierl Traversal (27) - District 8 Stylist**

Karla and Alana quickly pay the bill.

"See you tomorrow?"

"Later?" Alana says.

"Okay, bye!"

"Bye!"

Karla follows Trav back to the counter, where Olaf has just received the keys.

"Follow me to the back lobby," Olaf tells his district.

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5 Tribute**

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5 Tribute**

 **Magnette Quirlix (27) - District 5 Mentor**

 **Caitlin Theardie (45) - District 5 Mentor**

 **Valtron Deja (42) - District 5 Stylist**

As they reach the back lobby, they see District Twelve departing.

"Next shuttle," Maggie says.

"When?" Filly asks.

"Three minutes I think," Valtron answers.

 **Calient Racha-Basco (40) - District 11 Escort**

Calient knocks in front of the only occupied cubicle.

"Jak, I know you're in there."

Jakobbo makes a fake farting sound.

"Jak? Jak, I don't buy that."

"Can you come back for me in like ten minutes?"

"You're going to keep everybody waiting for you."

Jakobbo exhales aloud.

"No! Jak, don't tell me you're taking morphling again."

"It's orphrium."

"Jak! Get out this instant."

"Ten minutes."

"No!"

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5 Tribute**

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5 Tribute**

 **Magnette Quirlix (27) - District 5 Mentor**

 **Caitlin Theardie (45) - District 5 Mentor**

 **Valtron Deja (42) - District 5 Stylist**

 **Lainey Sash (18) - District 8 Tribute**

 **Ingeo Olefin (15) - District 8 Tribute**

 **Olaf Rossburgh (40) - District 8 Mentor**

 **Karlasia Trappist (18) - District 8 Mentor**

 **Svwyevwrierl Traversal (27) - District 8 Stylist**

 **Viktorio Antonio Mario Polyhaima (43) - District 8 Escort**

The shuttle arrives. It is like a multi-seater golf car.

"Villa Gamma," Olaf says.

"Beta," Caitlin murmurs.

"Villa Beta," repeats Maggie aloud to the driver.

The shuttle leaves the back lobby of the Tribute Center and heads to villas mentioned.

Filly looks to his left. The person looks at him too.

"Hi, I'm Filly." He reaches out a hand.

"Uh... Ingeo," he says before reaching out his hand for a shake.

"You were cool in that wizard costume!"

"T-thanks! You too in that cyber lightning costume."

"Thanks!"

Back at the lobby, more tributes, mentors, stylists, and escorts have arrived.

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3 Tribute**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3 Tribute**

 **Predicate Clause (20) - District 3 Escort**

 **Lorenzo Delcroix (24) - District 3 Mentor**

 **Hazel Ciencius (15) - District 3 Mentor**

 **Sophia Tristen (23) - District 3 Stylist**

 **Anakyn Skyavich (34) - District 3 Stylist**

"I have the keys," Hazel says.

"Where's Azriel?" Renz asks.

"At the library."

"Can you get him?"

"Sure, all of you can go ahead."

"Alright."

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4 Tribute**

 **Horden Tanase (17) - District 4 Tribute**

 **Tommy Rotterdam (28) - District 4 Mentor**

 **Delta Delta (38) - District 4 Mentor**

 **Ezairlayne Aquaffee (54) - District 4 Escort**

 **Belle Tristen (23) - District 4 Stylist**

As Delta sees them entering, she says, "Let's go!"

"We are on the go already," Tommy says.

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9 Tribute**

 **Dorian Belcorn (18) - District 9 Tribute**

 **Amaya Villanueva (56) - District 9 Mentor**

 **Alana Tapiocassava (20) - District 9 Mentor**

 **Bonita Fern (20) - District 9 Stylist**

 **Charlie Kale (31) - District 9 Stylist**

"Do you have the keys?" Amaya asks.

"I'll get them now," Alana responds.

Kylene receives the key from the counter lady. Alana follows shortly.

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10 Tribute**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10 Tribute**

 **Abraham Braunock (44) - District 10 Mentor**

 **Kylene Roa (25) - District 10 Mentor**

"Shuttle is at the back lobby," Abraham says.

 **Ace Starling (32) - District 1 Mentor**

 **Cyrus Mackintosh (18) - District 2 Mentor**

 **Robert Royce (21) - District 6 Mentor**

 **Woodrow Stirling (21) - District 7 Mentor**

The remaining mentors are still waiting for the rest of their districts.

"This is unfair," says Ace.

Woodrow says, "Life is never fair."

"Shut up. Don't talk to me. I'm talking to myself."

"Okay."

Cyrus and Royce are still playing on Royce's tablet.

"What the heck!?" Cyrus reacts.

"Haha! Bet you didn't see that!" Royce comments.

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11 Tribute**

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11 Tribute**

 **Marjorita Tisho (23) - District 11 Stylist**

 **Canvas MacMaquinMash (32) - District 11 Stylist**

On the other sofa, District Eleven is growing impatient.

"What's taking Calient so long?" asks Owen.

"Well, probably your mentor," Canvas replies.

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3 Tribute**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3 Tribute**

 **Predicate Clause (20) - District 3 Escort**

 **Lorenzo Delcroix (24) - District 3 Mentor**

 **Sophia Tristen (23) - District 3 Stylist**

 **Anakyn Skyavich (34) - District 3 Stylist**

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4 Tribute**

 **Horden Tanase (17) - District 4 Tribute**

 **Tommy Rotterdam (28) - District 4 Mentor**

 **Delta Delta (38) - District 4 Mentor**

 **Ezairlayne Aquaffee (54) - District 4 Escort**

 **Belle Tristen (23) - District 4 Stylist**

All twelve of them board the shuttle in order to proceed to their villas.

Tommy breaks the silence by saying, "Oh look, it's Delta Delta holding the Delta keys to the Delta Villa."

"Hey! Sounds cool," Anakyn and Tira compliment in unison.

"Ooh!" Ezairlayne reacts. "The library has a collection of these about past mentors, victors, tributes, and escorts. I heard there's even one posted in the training center."

The shuttle leaves, and some of them wave goodbye to the District Ten people who just arrived at the back lobby.

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10 Tribute**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10 Tribute**

 **Abraham Braunock (44) - District 10 Mentor**

 **Kylene Roa (25) - District 10 Mentor**

"Three to five minutes," says Kylene.

"District Nine is here too," Abraham adds.

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9 Tribute**

 **Dorian Belcorn (18) - District 9 Tribute**

 **Amaya Villanueva (56) - District 9 Mentor**

 **Alana Tapiocassava (20) - District 9 Mentor**

 **Bonita Fern (20) - District 9 Stylist**

 **Charlie Kale (31) - District 9 Stylist**

"Yay we're riding a shuttle to our house!" Macy says excitedly.

"It's a villa, dear," Amaya corrects.

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11 Tribute**

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11 Tribute**

 **Marjorita Tisho (23) - District 11 Stylist**

 **Canvas MacMaquinMash (32) - District 11 Stylist**

Back with District Eleven, their escort returns.

"Look, Calient is back," Poppy says.

 **Calient Racha-Basco (40) - District 11 Escort**

"He says we can go ahead," Calient says. _I'll get back to him later._ Calient claims the key from the counter lady.

When they reach the back lobby, they see the shuttle carrying Districts Nine and Ten leave.

"Y'all can't fit, so just wait for the next one," says Amaya before waving goodbye to them.

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12 Tribute**

 **Dante Blackwell (14) - District 12 Tribute**

 **Evezleya von Evezelle (48) - District 12 Escort**

 **Totochan Lierro (35) - District 12 Stylist**

 **Anino Gogogogh (45) - District 12 Stylist**

 **Larry Rockenstein (37) - District 12 Mentor**

District Twelve has been in its villa for a while now. There is an upper level and a lower level in the villa, as well as a balcony on the upper level. The walls, floors, and ceilings are customizable. Currently, the wall is in pastel pink, while the floors and ceilings are brown. They look gold in a way, except they are not shiny at all. There is a living room, a kitchen, a laundry area, and three bedrooms on the lower level, while five bedrooms are on the inside of the upper level. There is a bathroom on each level too. The layout is the same for all villas. The mentor, escort, and stylists are fixing their stuff in the meantime.

"I can't get off this bed, and I don't wanna get off of it." Corinna waves her arms around as if she was making a feather angel on the soft cottony bed.

"We should still eat though," says Evezleya.

"Eat?"

"You've forgotten dinner?"

"Oh. You're right."

"What were you expecting, just getting here to sleep?"

"Yes actually. I'm already tired too."

"We can get food by delivery you know?"

"How?"

"All I have to do is call, then they will give us food. How does that sound?"

"Well, I'm tired, so okay. You might want to ask Dante too."

"Oh yeah."

Evezleya goes out to look for Dante. She comes back not long after.

"Even Larry agreed for delivery."

"So we're not going out anymore?"

"Yup!"

"And I don't have to leave this bed?"

"Yes!"

"Awesome!"

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7 Tribute**

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District 7 Tribute**

 **Latisha Morwan (29) - District 7 Stylist**

 **Vector Pen Umbra (30) - District 7 Stylist**

 **History Grenadine (39) - District 7 Mentor**

 **Woodrow Stirling (21) - District 7 Mentor**

Back at the Tribute Center lobby, Woodrow receives the keys from the counter lady.

"And now we're ready to go," Woodrow says. "Took you all long, really long."

Susie cowers behind her stylist nervously.

"Well, it's a stressful first day, but it's all good," History says. "I'm used to this, right?"

"Only you will know," says Woodrow.

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6 Tribute**

 **Kylie Ford (16) - District 6 Tribute**

 **Violet Aureon (70) - District 6 Mentor**

 **Robert Royce (21) - District 6 Mentor**

"See ya tomorrow!" says Royce.

"Cyru-nara!" says Cyrus.

They then do their fifteen-second friendship handshake.

Royce faces his tributes and co-mentor, then says, "Now what?"

"Let's eat. I'm hungry," Violet says.

"Me too," adds Royce.

With that, District Six heads to the other wing of the Tribute Center.

 **Ace Starling (32) - District 1 Mentor**

 **Cyrus Mackintosh (18) - District 2 Mentor**

Ace begs, "Please give me the key."

The lady at the counter sees two groups approaching.

"Here you go."

"Fuck you. Next time you do this to me..."

Cyrus butts in, "Next time you do that to her, Azriel is gonna give you a kiss."

"Fuck you too! He's an undeserving victor, and you know it!"

"That's why I used his name, but I really shouldn't." Cyrus faces the counter lady, "Key please, District Two."

"I hate you for bringing up his name. He already hid away from me."

"Sometimes I wish I was Royce, so I can burn you like Ace-star in outer space."

"Are you trying to be FUNNY!?"

Cyrus walks away and ignores Ace. Needless to say, the two career districts also head to the back lobby to ride the shuttle to their respective villas.

 **Lainey Sash (18) - District 8 Tribute**

 **Ingeo Olefin (15) - District 8 Tribute**

 **Olaf Rossburgh (40) - District 8 Mentor**

 **Karlasia Trappist (18) - District 8 Mentor**

 **Svwyevwrierl Traversal (27) - District 8 Stylist**

 **Viktorio Antonio Mario Polyhaima (43) - District 8 Escort**

Ingeo is already fast asleep, while Lainey is eating the apple on the plate prepared at the dining table.

"Want me to buy food for us all?" Trav asks.

"No no no," Vamp says. "I can order us a free meal from Vamp's Steakhouse and Bar."

"Ooh!" reacts Trav.

"Some things never change eh?" Olaf says. "This is nice."

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6 Tribute**

 **Kylie Ford (16) - District 6 Tribute**

 **Violet Aureon (70) - District 6 Mentor**

 **Robert Royce (21) - District 6 Mentor**

Four bowls of soup noodles are served on their table.

"Have any of you tasted noodles before?" Violet asks.

"Nope I haven't," replies Thomas.

Kylie shakes her head.

"Well, I'm not surprised. From the looks of it, do you know how to eat it?" Violet asks.

Royce is slurping on his noodles noisily. He then looks up.

Thomas says, "We can follow Royce."

"How nice, Royce is becoming a role model." Violet pats Royce on his back. "Well kids, enjoy the meal. This may be one of your last."

"It will be for me."

"Oh... right."

 **Ezairlayne Aquaffee (54) - District 4 Escort**

 **Belle Tristen (23) - District 4 Stylist**

"Dinner is served!" announces Ezairlayne as she places down the casserole she just baked on the dining table.

Only Belle is present, however.

"They must be mentoring, working hard as usual," says Ezairlayne.

 **Horden Tanase (17) - District 4 Tribute**

 **Tommy Rotterdam (28) - District 4 Mentor**

In one of the rooms, Horden and Tommy are having a conversation.

"I can't emphasize how important the career pack is for me," says Tommy. "It got me far. One advantage you have as a career is being one of the last few to leave the cornucopia. You get to clear all the mess that is left."

"I see."

"You okay?"

"Yes." Horden looks around. "I'm just in awe of the Capitol's fanciness."

"Well, I guess that's normal for people who don't always experience fanciness like this."

"I agree."

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4 Tribute**

 **Delta Delta (38) - District 4 Mentor**

On the other hand, Jeanne and Delta got into an argument while mentoring.

"Look, that bitch face from One is not becoming my leader."

"Jeanne, there can only be one leader, so whatever happens, just make sure the alliance does not break quickly."

"I'm more important than the alliance!"

"Girl, don't make me regret picking you as the volunteer this year."

Someone knocks on the door.

"Uh, dinner is ready," Belle says from the outside.

"Okay," Delta replies. "Give us a minute."

"I don't care what it takes, but I will be leader of this year's career alliance."

"Well, good luck getting far into these games."

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9 Tribute**

 **Dorian Belcorn (18) - District 9 Tribute**

 **Amaya Villanueva (56) - District 9 Mentor**

 **Alana Tapiocassava (20) - District 9 Mentor**

 **Bonita Fern (20) - District 9 Stylist**

 **Charlie Kale (31) - District 9 Stylist**

DING DONG!

The sound gets everyone's attention, away from the TV, which is showing the parade recap.

"I'll get it," Bonita says. As she walks to the door, she clumsily trips on her flexible orange tail.

"Are you okay?" Alana asks.

"Yeah. This is not the first time." She gets up quickly and opens the door.

"Is this the pizza you were talking about?" Macy asks curiously.

"Yes," responds Amaya. "Yes it is, dear."

Dorian asks, "What are the flavors?"

"Well, there's meat mania, nine cheese, and Hawaiian."

"Hawaiian!? Pineapples don't go on pizza!"

"Yes they do!" says Alana.

"No they don't. This is ridiculous!"

"Pineapples have been on pizza for centuries now. I don't get what's wrong with it."

Amaya interrupts, "Calm down. Let's eat what we want, shall we?"

The delivery avox assists Bonita into placing the pizzas on the dining table.

"Let us feast!" invites Amaya.

Alana opens the boxes.

"Wait." Chay takes out his phone and takes a picture of all the pizzas.

"I'm hungry." Dorian rolls his eyes.

Chay checks the photos he took. "Okay, I'm good."

With that, District Nine is having pizza for their first dinner in the Capitol.

 **Azriel Ruby (23) - District 3 Mentor**

 **Hazel Ciencius (15) - District 3 Mentor**

Both District Three mentors unboard the shuttle as they arrive in Villa Epsilon, where District Three is staying for this year's games. Hazel presses the doorbell, and Anakyn opens the door not long after.

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3 Tribute**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3 Tribute**

 **Predicate Clause (20) - District 3 Escort**

 **Lorenzo Delcroix (24) - District 3 Mentor**

 **Sophia Tristen (23) - District 3 Stylist**

 **Anakyn Skyavich (34) - District 3 Stylist**

"Good evening," he greets.

"Good evening," Hazel responds. "Dinner is here."

"What did you get?" Renz asks.

"Chinese food from Conchita's. Why?"

"Just as I expected."

"You're good with it, right?"

"Yeah. I just don't feel like eating rice now."

"We bought fried noodles."

"Okay."

As Renz calls everybody in the rooms, Anakyn, Hazel, and Azriel open the containers of the food.

"Sweet and sour pork?" Anakyn asks.

"Yup," answers Hazel.

"Fried noodles."

"Yes."

"Dumplings."

"Mmhm."

"Tofu with sauce, fried rice, white chicken."

"Yup, and my favorite."

Anakyn opens the last one containing, "Soup dumplings!"

"Authentically known as xiao long bao. It's on the menu."

Sophia, Chip, Tira, and Cate are now at the dining area.

"Wow! I thought we'd be eating bread," reacts Tira.

"We could," Renz says. "But we have something better."

"I don't always eat Chinese food. This is great!"

"Have any of you two eaten Chinese food before?" Anakyn asks his tributes.

"I have, but not too often."

Chip just stares at the food, analyzing their looks before imagining the taste.

"Chip?" asks Sophia. "Anakyn was asking if you've eaten Chinese food before."

He shakes his head.

"Well, you will definitely enjoy the food while staying here, Chinese or not," Renz says. "It's better than the food back home."

While District Three is having a Chinese dinner, District Six is approaching their villa.

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6 Tribute**

 **Kylie Ford (16) - District 6 Tribute**

 **Violet Aureon (70) - District 6 Mentor**

 **Robert Royce (21) - District 6 Mentor**

"I'm pretty sure it's Lambda," Royce says.

"Can you check what's on the keys?" Violet requests.

Royce digs into his pockets back and forth to realize, "Ooh, I forgot to claim them."

"Oh Snow."

"Just wait here. I'll get them."

Violet, Thomas, and Kylie unboarded the shuttle as they reached Villa Lambda, but they can see that it has already been occupied.

"Maybe we should've just gone with Royce." Thomas curiously peeks through the gaps of the golden curtains.

"I agree," Vioet says. "This isn't a good decision."

As they look for the next empty villa, Villa Lambda is filled with awkward silence.

 **Rufus Cornelii (12) - District 2 Tribute**

 **Brenna O'Hare (18) -** **District 2 Tribute**

 **Joan Ho (26) -** **District 2 Mentor**

 **Cyrus Mackintosh (18) - District 2 Mentor**

 **Leif Ray Khan (27) -** **District 2 Escort**

They are having a simple sandwich dinner.

 _I'm not used to this silence,_ Joan thinks. _I guess this is better than arguing with cocky tributes._

"You know, people my age would be training for the hunger games, hoping to be the next one to represent the district," Cyrus tells.

"Why did you volunteer so early?" Leif asks.

Joan thinks, _Is this something I already know? Can't remember._

"It was my brother. He was the chosen volunteer."

Leif gasps, "What happened?"

"He changed his mind last minute. He told me he wants to get married and have children. He didn't want to be unsure of coming back or not."

"Then?" Joan asks with interest.

"He told me to do him a favor. He said people would underestimate me, so I had an advantage. As gullible as I am, I volunteered for his place, not knowing the biggest dangers of being involved in the games."

"How was your games?" Leif asks.

"I almost died a couple of times. I just got lucky it was me."

"We had to watch you get thrown out of the career alliance," Joan reminds.

"Still worth it!" Cyrus gives her a thumbs up.

"What happened to your brother though?" Leif asks.

Cyrus tries to remember what his brother told him, then says, "He said he moved to the Capitol, because District Two will see him as a disgrace for backing out like a coward. The thing here is... I haven't seen or heard from my brother ever since the night I volunteered for the games."

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7 Tribute**

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District 7 Tribute**

 **Latisha Morwan (29) - District 7 Stylist**

 **Vector Pen Umbra (30) - District 7 Stylist**

 **History Grenadine (39) - District 7 Mentor**

 **Woodrow Stirling (21) - District 7 Mentor**

"Look," says Latisha. "I made pie!"

She brings the bronze-colored pumpkin pie to the center of the table.

"Looks good!" comments History.

"Do you two have any target allies?" asks Woodrow to the tributes.

Susie shakes her head quickly and nervously.

 _Kevin says, "Come on. I know you want one. No, you NEED one! You can deny it now, but it's you who will be in trouble later."_

Orion shrugs then says, "I don't have any plans."

"You two should have an impression of everyone at least, right?"

"It's okay. There will be tributes who will be looking for allies later on." Orion gets a slice of pie as he finishes his dinner.

Susie just covers her mouth and shakes her head.

History says, "I don't want to be the bad guy here, but shouldn't you see a doctor, Susie?"

Susie shakes her head nervously once more while her eyes are at the verge of tearing up.

 _"The doctor is never a nice person to see. When was the last time your trip to the doctor helped you?" Kevin can imagine Susie crying._

And so she does. Susie runs off to her room, while History is guiltily covering her mouth.

"Why did she volunteer?" asks Woodrow.

"Nobody really knows. Maybe it's her condition." History tries shrugging it off, hoping to change the topic.

Vector comments, "Relax. Maybe it's just a teenager thing."

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11 Tribute**

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11 Tribute**

 **Marjorita Tisho (23) - District 11 Stylist**

 **Canvas MacMaquinMash (32) - District 11 Stylist**

 **Calient Racha-Basco (40) - District 11 Escort**

District Eleven is also discussing about allies in their villa.

"We'll just find whoever is near us," Poppy says.

"Yeah, maybe it'll be easier to find allies that way," Owen agrees.

"It's a long day, kids," says Calient. "You two should get some rest."

DING DONG!

Canvas opens the door to see two peacekeepers carrying somebody who's barely conscious.

"What the heck!?" Marjorita reacts.

Calient says, "I'm bringing him to the clinic! Marj, Canvas, you two take care of the kids. I'll be back when I can."

With that, Calient goes outside and shuts the door.

"Now what?" Marjorita says.

"Should we play cards with them, or should we tell them to get some rest now?" Canvas asks.

"I don't know."

"What?"

"I don't know what to do with them."

"Me too."

The two realize soon enough that their indecisiveness is not something they're encountering for the first time.

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5 Tribute**

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5 Tribute**

 **Magnette Quirlix (27) - District 5 Mentor**

 **Caitlin Theardie (45) - District 5 Mentor**

 **Valtron Deja (42) - District 5 Stylist**

Some time after the end of dinner, Valtron calls the front desk to have an avox wash their plates and utensils.

Maggie says, "You two should get some rest. Look at Caitlin!" She points to Caitlin sleeping on the sofa. "I'm not sure why she's so tired."

"I'm tired too," Filly says.

"Good night, sweet dreams!" Maggie says.

Filly gives Maggie a hug and she returns the same.

"Good night, Maggie."

As Filly gets up from his seat and heads to his room, Ciara looks to Maggie.

"Yes?"

"Is it wrong to be excited about tomorrow?"

"Hmmm... you get to train, and meet the other tributes too, so I guess not. It's not yet the big day. Just relax, and everything should revolve fantastically in your favor." _Hmmm... really Maggie?_ "Go get some rest. You will need that for tomorrow."

Ciara gets up from her seat to go to her room.

"Good night, sweet dreams!"

"Night," Ciara replies.

Maggie gets a soft blanket from Caitlin's bag and puts it on top of the sleeping Caitlin. She then heads up and out to the balcony to smoke, to relax from the long first day in the Capitol. She is worried about the games as usual, but she doesn't wanna think of that for now. _It's not gonna be until a few days from now._ She just smokes in silence while watching the stars twinkle from above.

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10 Tribute**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10 Tribute**

 **Abraham Braunock (44) - District 10 Mentor**

 **Kylene Roa (25) - District 10 Mentor**

Kylene switches the lights in the living room from cold to warm, then the ceiling to a green shade from what used to be an orange one.

"These rich motherfuckers have no idea what they're doing with their technology," Kobe complains. "Why can't they just be simple and have an uncustomizable room!?"

Kylene elbows Abraham softly to answer.

Abraham then says, "Look, just because you hate the Capitol doesn't mean everything about it is bad."

"Fuck you! You're one of them too!"

Everybody does an eyeroll, although not in unison.

"Oh, so we're saying that if you're a jerk, which you are, then everybody in District Ten is a jerk, right?"

Arlenna goes to the washroom to brush her teeth, especially since she doesn't wanna hear about any of this.

"That's not true! Everybody in the Capitol is rich and stupid though."

"Kobe, if you can't keep your mouth shut, everybody is gonna think you're poor and stupid."

"FUCK YOU!"

Kylene tries to distract herself by going to the fridge. It's barely filled. She really has nothing to look for and nothing to look at.

"There's no point arguing with stupid people, Kobe. You should just call it a day and save the rest of your rant for tomorrow. This is not gonna get you far in the games."

"What do I care about these games!?"

"Your life is at stake. Do you wanna live?"

"FUCK YOU!" He glares at Abraham before he storms to his room, slamming the door aloud after entering.

"How can you do that?" Kylene asks.

"It's being aggressive. Oh, and it's called practice. Before your games, there was a tribute like him too, but Kobe's worse."

"Which year was that?"

"123rd. Poor kid ended up dead in the bloodbath. Well, he just cried when the boy from Four came for him."

"Boy from Four, so Jawes?"

"Yup. Jawes Jamaica was vicious. He made eight kills in his year. I think that's a record for the most kills for this century so far."

"Can't forget him with that record. Where is he?"

"Not mentoring, because they have other victors too."

"Ah, you're right."

"We need more victors. I'm getting tired of mentoring children for them to just die." Abraham sighs.

Kylene sighs as well. "I also wish we have co-mentors to alternate with."

 **Francisco Specular (48) - District 1 Escort**

 **Concordia Speculoos-Specular (47) - District 1 Stylist**

 **Annaleigh St. Cloud (17) - District 1 Tribute**

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1 Tribute**

 **Ace Starling (32) - District 1 Mentor**

Ace enters the washroom, then goes out a few seconds later, angrily.

"No tissue rolls!?" Ace shouts.

"Ace, they probably just forgot," Concordia responds.

"Forgot!? Their service is already bad. I thought this couldn't get any worse."

"Ace, please don't be mad," says Frank.

"I don't care. UGH! I didn't expect this shit while mentoring."

She sits on the sofa, upset like she usually is.

"Can you call for tissue?" Ace asks. "I don't wanna talk to the lady there."

As Concordia dials the local number, Frank goes to the washroom.

"There's a tissue roll here."

Ace gets up to check. Concordia hangs up. Ace is in disbelief.

"UGH! UGH! UUUUUGGGHHH! IT WASN'T THERE! I SWEAR THE FUCK OUT OF SNOW: IT WASN'T THERE!" Ace punches the wall nearest to her. She makes a dent out of it, but...

"Ace," Concordia says.

"Ace, your hands are bleeding," Frank adds.

"Why? Are you two AFRAID OF BLOOD!?" Ace questions angrily.

The couple decides it's best to just leave her alone and check on the tributes instead.

 **Lainey Sash (18) - District 8 Tribute**

 **Ingeo Olefin (15) - District 8 Tribute**

 **Olaf Rossburgh (40) - District 8 Mentor**

 **Karlasia Trappist (18) - District 8 Mentor**

 **Svwyevwrierl Traversal (27) - District 8 Stylist**

 **Viktorio Antonio Mario Polyhaima (43) - District 8 Escort**

"So, how's the steak?" Vamp asks.

"Best thing I've ever tasted!" Lainey says. "No exaggeration. That was the best!"

"It was really good," Ingeo says, wiping his tears of joy and satisfaction.

Trav says, "This is better than the usual steak I get to eat. How do you do this?"

"A true vampire never reveals his secrets!" Vamps says.

"That's magician actually," Trav says.

"Don't argue with me. I know what I'm saying."

Karla says, "I'm tired."

"Me too," Olaf says. "Let's get enough rest for tonight."

"Yes!" Lainey replies.

"Okay," says Ingeo.

 **Predicate Clause (20) - District 3 Escort**

 **Anakyn Skyavich (34) - District 3 Stylist**

Anakyn approaches Cate slowly.

"Is this about why I'm here?" Cate asks.

"You were expecting this?" Anakyn reacts in a surprised manner.

"Doctor Flore's secretary warned me about it."

"Oh, interesting."

"The secretary misplaced your document, so somebody else took your slot at first, then this escort backed out three days before the reapings. The secretary was gonna ask you back instead, but it's hardly possible to be an escort and a stylist on the same year, and they didn't have a backup stylist."

"Oh..."

"Sorry about that. I was told to tell you this when I get the opportunity."

"It's alright."

"Are you enjoying your job as a stylist so far?"

"I think so. How about you as an escort?"

"It's fine. I'm just a sub. I'm not supposed to be here, but it's new experience for me."

"Very well then."

"See ya tomorrow!"

"Good night."

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6 Tribute**

 **Robert Royce (21) - District 6 Mentor**

Royce checks to see Thomas on his bed already. Thomas couldn't sleep, so he's just looking at the window.

"I'm just curious," Thomas says.

Royce pauses in surprise. "Go on."

"Why are we on a villa, I thought the norm for rich places like the Capitol is to be on a tall building?"

"A tall building was used back then for you to stay for the few nights here, actually."

"Why did they remove it?"

"They didn't. They just put the training center there now."

"How come?"

"Long story short, some career district tribute complained that there's no view through the windows when he sleeps, and that he'll be forced to use the stairs since it's healthier, so they just gave us all villas so that everybody's even."

"Is that it?"

"Pretty much, yeah. Oh no wait, they made the training center bigger by moving it to the old tribute center after the fourth quarter quell."

"Ah, I'll see that tomorrow."

"We have more space here in the villas, so I think this is fine. Better than the building with a quick elevator. They said it's awkward to be with the other tributes."

"I can't relate."

"Me too actually. Can't sleep?"

"I've always been wondering what I could do if I weren't stuck in my district."

"Well, you can wonder all you want, kiddo. Just make sure you're not gonna look dead tomorrow, haha. G'night!"

"G'night!"

 **Calient Racha-Basco (40) - District 11 Escort**

 **Jakobbo Langka (59) - District 11 Mentor**

Calient struggles to carry the drugged Jakobbo to the shuttle. Three avoxes assist them, and once they arrive at the villa, they placed him carefully on the sofa.

"Thanks!" Calient says.

As the avoxes leave, he expects silence. However, he can hear sounds from a room. He goes there to check it out, and he sees both stylists and both tributes playing cards.

"..."

"..."

"Aren't you tired?"

"Actually, I am," Owen says. "They convinced me to play."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with having fun," Marjorita reasons out. "I just wanna make them happy."

"Alright, alright. There's a time and place for everything. Just make sure you two can get up tomorrow. Food will be ready by six, or was it six-thirty? Anyway, food will be ready around that time, and the training center will be open by seven. The orientation won't be until eight though, so you'll need some rest because tomorrow will be another long day. Okay?"

"Yes sir!" Poppy responds.

"Okay!" Owen replies with glee.

Calient closes the door. He goes back to Jakobbo, who is now snoring on the sofa.

"District Eleven is gonna need a new mentor if this doesn't shape up nicely."

 **Evezleya von Evezelle (48) - District 12 Escort**

Evezleya is already on bed, checking her social media. She sees photos of her family having a beach vacation without her. She then types a comment: _I miss you fam. Hope y'all had fun!_ 😁

She turns off her phone and puts her striped white, pink, blue, and light blue eye mask on. Before she falls asleep, she hears two knocks on the door. She puts up her eye mask and opens the door.

"Ah, you finally woke up!"

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12 Tribute**

"I'm hungry," Corinna says.

"Your food is on the fridge. I don't know if you know how to eat curry. Have you eaten curry?"

"I have heard of it."

"Well, it's in the fridge. Let me heat it up for you."

Evezleya goes to the kitchen to heat up Corinna's curry chicken with rice. She checks the clock to see it's already four in the morning.

 _I forgot to sleep. Good thing nobody needs me early tomorrow._

"When you're done, just put your plate in the kitchen sink, okay?"

"Sure thing!"

"I'll be back sleeping in my room."

"Okay."

"Good mornight!"

"See you tomorrow!"

Evezleya goes back to her room. She puts her eye mask back on and finally gets some rest on what seems to be a long day for her.

 _Has it always been like this every reaping and parade day?_

* * *

AN: This chapter focused on some interactions and world building. I could've skipped this and go all the way to Training Day 1, but I wanna show stuff you don't usually see in other stories. If you have any requests or suggestions for certain characters to interact, let me know and I'll see what I can do with it.

This chapter took a while to get out, but I have a week off from school, so thank holidays for this chapter to be out right now. Not sure when I'll be able to update again, but I'll definitely have at least another chapter or 2 before the end of the year.

Oh also, if you're still reading and forgot to send a check-in from last chapter, please do. I only have info for 8 tributes, from 6 submitters (not counting those from stylist submitters). D:

As always, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! :)


	28. Training 1 (AM): Newly Formed Bonds

**Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11 Tribute**

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11 Tribute**

 **Marjorita Tisho (23) - District 11 Stylist**

 **Canvas MacMaquinMash** **(32) - District 11 Stylist**

With the escort and mentor still asleep, both stylists are given the responsibility to inform them about what they need to do.

Marjorita yawns, then says, "You can ride the golf cart to the Training Center, then have your breakfast there."

"Or you can also eat the breakfast delivered every morning at six," adds Canvas.

"I think we can go early to eat breakfast there," Owen says.

"You have more food choices," Marjorita mentions. "It's a buffet."

"What's a buffet?" Poppy asks.

"There's a lot of food there, so just pick and eat whatever you want," answers Canvas.

Owen and Poppy look at each other to see excitement in each other's eyes.

"Don't forget your training uniform." Marjorita gets the tops from the sofa. They are short-sleeved tight shirts in dark blue. The sleeves are black with white 11's on both sides. Still on the sofa, both pants are tight and dark blue too, but it has thick gray lines on both sides. The shoes are also provided, and both pairs are gray.

"Cool!" Poppy says.

 **Brenna O' Hare (18) - District 2 Tribute**

 **Rufus Cornelii (12) - District 2 Tribute**

 **Joan Ho (26) - District 2 Mentor**

While some tributes prefer going to the Training Center for a buffet breakfast, others opt to 'stay home' and eat what is provided.

"You sure you don't want to have more food?" Joan asks.

Brenna shakes her head before biting the clubhouse sandwich. Rufus just focuses on applying the peanut butter on the waffle provided, although he heard the mentor's question.

"Okay then." Joan submissively and awkwardly eats her salad.

The avoxes just bring whatever food every morning, then the escorts, mentors, tributes, and stylists just pick whatever they want from what is delivered. Sometimes, the food not eaten just gets placed in the fridge. Usually, some mentors would snack on them a few days later when they're too depressed about their tributes' deaths.

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

After the buffet breakfast, Filly enters through the door to the big room beside the library. Other tributes are waiting there too, while some are still on their way here or are still finishing their breakfasts.

Filly takes a good look at the room. It is blue all around, and there is a projector and a screen at the other end of the room. There are a few bookshelves around, as well as tables and chairs. Filly finds a seat near a pale-skinned boy with dark brown hair.

"Good morning!" Filly greets.

"Good morning too!" he greets back. "I'm Thomas."

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

"I'm Filly. How was breakfast?"

"It's probably one of the best I've ever had. How about you?"

"It's better than the food at home."

"I guess they want us to enjoy the food on our last days here by giving us the best of it."

The conversation goes on, even changing to the topic of their families and friends at home. They continue to talk until their attention shifts to the head trainer.

A muscled tan-skinned woman with short blonde hair and purple highlights as well as crystal blue eyes and purple gloves makes a head count. "Okay, perfect. Nobody is late."

Now, everybody else has their attentions on her.

"Good morning tributes! I hope you had a good breakfast today. My name is Head Trainer Heraklion, but you can call me Amillea.

To give you a brief background of the training center, this building used to be the tribute center, where tributes get to stay for the nights before the games. Ever since the 101st Games, the tributes stay in the villas, so that we have more space for the training center.

On the first floor is the swimming pool. If you wanna learn how to swim, we have one coach slash lifeguard staying in that area.

Also on the first floor is the library. It is accessible to all, so don't be surprised to see strangers from the Capitol if you choose to visit the library.

On the second floor, you can practice attack and defense. There are no weapons there. It's basically hand-to-hand combat and a few other sports.

The gym is on the third floor. We also have a yoga center there, as well as the wall for wall climbing. I will be stationed on the wall climbing section for this year's training, so if you want to check it out, expect me there. I suggest you check it out.

On the fourth floor are rooms to test your endurance. There's one for high temperatures and another for low temperatures. Check them out too.

On the fifth floor is one big room where you can test your agility, stamina, stealth, and navigation. The wall for wall climbing is until the fifth floor, by the way.

The sixth is where the basic weapons are. We have daggers, knives, axes, maces, warhammers, and a kunai.

The seventh is where the range weapons are. You may see darts, bows and arrows, slingshots, chakrams, shurikens, throwing knives, and throwing axes.

There are more weapons on the eighth. The longer weapons such as swords, sickles, scythes, tridents, spears, and staffs are all there.

There is also more weaponry on the ninth. The weirder weapons go there, so you can check them out if you're curious. Don't expect all of them to appear in the cornucopia. We just leave our stocks there.

The tenth level is for survival. If you wanna learn how to cook, how to build a shelter, how to set fire, and how to tell which plants, berries, and insects are edible or not, the tenth floor is where you go.

The eleventh floor is for traps. Wires and ropes can be found there too. Also, if you wanna learn how to blend into the background, visit the eleventh.

Last but not the least, the clinic and laboratory is on the twelfth floor. If you wanna learn about poisons or medicines, you go there. However, it is advisable to attend the medical seminar instead since the nurses and doctors can't always assist you. For today, we have two medical seminars. First batch is from nine to ten. Second batch is from three to four.

There are trainers per floor, so approach us if you need assistance. If you get lost too, there is a directory on the elevator. Whatever I said earlier is all over there.

Lunch will be served at twelve noon, sharp. The dining area is always open, and food for the tributes is always free. During lunch break, nobody will be allowed to train, because we trainers will also be having our lunch from twelve to one. Closing time for today and tomorrow will be at seven in the evening, sharp.

Make sure to be early tomorrow. Unlike today, the training center will open at seven in the morning tomorrow. Be early, because you will be signing up for the private sessions first thing tomorrow morning. This is first come first served. If you're late, or rather if you'll be the last to sign up, you will be defaulted to the only vacant slot remaining, so be early.

Hmmm, other policies. No killing. I think that's obvious. No physical hurting of other tributes. We'll know if it's intentional or not, because there are cameras around the building. You have the option to rest in the villa if you don't feel like training. You can also explore the place if you want. Just don't get too lost. There are borders as to how far you can explore, but you'll see the signs around.

And... that's it. If you have any questions, you may approach any of the trainers around. Have fun training, and may the odds be ever in your favor! Good day."

Amillea makes her way to the elevator, since her station is on the third level. Most tributes went around to explore, but at least the careers and two other tributes know where to start.

 **Kylie Ford (16) - District 6**

She is on the second level of the training center, ready to learn hand-to-hand combat.

"Good morning," greets the male trainer.

"What are you here for?" greets the other male trainer, who looks just like the first trainer.

"Hand-to-hand combat," Kylie responds.

"Follow me," both trainers say in unison.

"What!?" says the first one.

"Why?" says the second.

"Me, okay?"

"Okay fine."

"Follow me," the first one tells Kylie. "You can call me Gravity. Don't mind my brother Density."

 **Annaleigh St. Cloud (17) - District 1**

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1**

 **Rufus Cornelii (12) - District 2**

 **Brenna O'Hare (18) - District 2**

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4**

 **Horden Tanase (17) - District 4**

"Here we are to double check everybody's skills," Jeanne says. "We don't want anybody in the alliance who can't help us kill."

Annaleigh thinks, _Who told you to be leader? But fine._

"Does anybody wanna go first?" Jeanne asks.

Brenna raises her hand.

"Show us."

Brenna gets a warhammer from one of the shelves. She sees a dummy then rips it through the heart with the warhammer.

Rufus raises his hand.

Jeanne says, "Hmmm... okay."

Rufus gets two knives from the pile. He approaches a dummy from the back then rips off both arms of the dummy. He then goes for the neck, slowly decapitating the dummy.

"Next?"

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10**

He attentively listens to the trainer explaining to him how traps work and its different kinds and purposes. He fidgets on a rope restlessly while listening.

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

"Hello," Ciara greets.

"Hello, you must be here to learn wall climbing, correct?" Amillea responds.

"Oh no. I'm just gonna brush up my skills."

"Well then, feel free to call me for assistance when you need it.

While Ciara is getting strapped before wall climbing, Orion is learning on edibles.

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District 7**

"Welcome to the edibles section!" greets the instructor cheerily. "I am Magnolia Minehart. Feel free to call me for assistance if you need it!"

Orion thinks, then says, "Minehart?"

"Yeah, why?"

Orion clutches on his heart.

"Oh silly! It's hart without the e, h-a-r-t."

He tries to learn edible plants first. A few minutes later, somebody else arrives on the same floor.

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3**

"I think we can start here," says Tira, pointing at the shelter station.

Tira leads Chip to the station while he is on his own world, thinking of how shelters can be built in different ways.

 **Annaleigh St. Cloud (17) - District 1**

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1**

 **Rufus Cornelii (12) - District 2**

 **Brenna O'Hare (18) - District 2**

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4**

 **Horden Tanase (17) - District 4**

"Looks like we'll all be in the career pack," Jeanne says.

 _Really?_ Rufus reacts with a slight smirk.

 _Pffsshht! Okay._ Brenna thinks with a poker face.

Annaleigh makes an eyeroll. Lucky for her, Jeanne doesn't see it. Horden does, however.

"We'll just meet up for lunch. For now, you can go wherever you want." Jeanne takes Argentum by the hip as they head to the elevator.

Brenna makes her way down by one floor from the range weapons floor. Rufus takes the stairs up.

Horden says, "So... Annaleigh, correct?"

"Yes," she replies with a smile. "Horden?"

"Correct."

They shake hands.

Annaleigh asks, "Where do you wanna start?"

"We can start cooking. If we have raw food, but we don't know how to cook it..."

"I get it. It's upstairs, right?"

"Somewhere up there."

They see the elevator doors close.

"It's okay," says Annaleigh. "Is your district partner really rude?"

"Yes, sad to say."

"How can she be leader?"

"Pride. I don't think she'll be able to manage the pack properly."

"She looks down on you for being a janitor."

"True. Rich people like her only stick with rich people like her. How about your district partner?"

"Lazy. Tolerable, but lazy."

"I see."

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10**

From the corner of Kobe's vision, he sees the boy from Two arriving at the camouflage station.

 _Isn't he twelve!? Is this what happens if you're young and rich?_

"Kobe, Kobe right?" Tide asks.

Kobe nods and says, "Yes." He feels relaxed around this trainer, knowing that he used to be poor despite being from Four. It's nice for him how the trainer was able to tell him his background, for him to feel at ease.

"Did you hear what I just said?"

Kobe doesn't respond.

"Kobe, if you wanna learn how to use traps, you have to listen to me."

 _Okay, he's getting in my nerves now._ Yet, Kobe nods submissively while also saying "Okay."

"As I was saying, traps for food and for tributes are different."

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1**

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4**

Meanwhile at the spears station, the lovers are brushing up their skills.

"So... life at home is tough huh?" Jeanne asks flirtily.

"Not really. I just have to win the games."

 _Haha! Lucky you you're hot! I'll save you for the end._ Jeanne says, "So... it is hard right now, right?"

"Not really. My brother is just getting more attention than me."

"Okay." Jeanne gives Argentum a hug after he threw a spear into the dummy's head.

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

At the heat endurance room, which looks similar to a sauna, the two start at the same time.

"Hi!" Ciara greets.

 _"Awww... the sweet girl wants to be your ally," Kevin says._

 _No, she's only saying hi._

 _"Pffft! Think again."_

"Hello?" Ciara says.

Susie looks at Ciara in a very frightened manner. Susie doesn't know how to respond, because if she does, Kevin will do something bad to Ciara.

"Um, okay," Ciara reacts. _That sucks. Not everybody can be nice and friendly._

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11**

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11**

They arrive on the tenth floor. They see both from Three learning how to build a shelter, the boy from Seven and the girl from Eight on the edibles station, and the girl from One with the boy from Four cooking something raw.

"Let's check out the edible plants!" Poppy says cheerily.

"Okay," agrees Owen. "Let's make traps after."

"Okay," Poppy agrees.

 **Dante Blackwell (14) - District 12**

Dante sees the boy from Two painting himself up and the boy from Ten learning how to build traps. He picks up the wire curiously, and a trainer approaches him.

"Trainer Vilnius is ready to help! What do you need to know about the wire?"

 _I'll need this for traps, right? I can use this for traps._ Dante clears his throat then says, "Uh, traps?"

"Okay!"

 **Ingeo Olefin (14) - District 8**

As he finishes the cool endurance, he thinks where to go next.

 _I think I can explore a bit for now._

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

"Ever wonder what happens if we can fly?" asks Thomas.

"We wouldn't be visiting this then." Filly looks up to see how high the wall is.

Amillea says, "Hello! Do you need my guidance?"

"Uhuh," nods Filly.

"Sure, we'd love to learn how to climb the wall," Thomas responds.

"Great! First things first, we need to get you two strapped."

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10**

"Kobe?"

Kobe looks back to Wave.

"Do you understand what I just did?"

"Yes." He then looks at the boy from Twelve.

"Do you wanna try again?"

"Um..."

"Sorry if I'm boring. If you want, you can try other stations."

"Okay. I guess I'll come back."

"See ya, good luck!"

With that Kobe heads to the fire-making station.

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

Susie is silently crying in fear, and Ciara tries to look away and ignore what's happening.

 _This is not my fault. This is not my fault. I'm sorry if it was,_ Ciara internally tells herself.

 _I feel so sorry for her,_ thinks Susie.

 _"Pffft! Leave then. Leave! This place is useless. You can't kill anyone here."_

 _I'm not killing anyone here._ Susie gets up and leaves the room, not maximizing the time, but it wouldn't matter to her anyway.

 **Rufus Cornelii (12) - District 2**

The trainer barely needs to give Rufus any tip. Instead, she just claps upon seeing the result of Rufus' camouflage work.

As Rufus gets up from his position, he wipes off the paint with the wet wipes provided to him by Vriya.

Once he's done, he goes up one level to the clinic. As he enters, he sees the girl from Seven and the boy from Eight also attending the seminar.

 **Ingeo Olefin (14) - District 8**

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

 _"Kill him."_

 _I can't, because I'm here, not in some weapon station._

 _"Sure, fine. After this, we're killing more people. Mwahahahaha!"_

Susie gulps in fear.

A red-haired woman in a lab coat enters the small room. "Good morning! I guess three is good enough. My name is Doctor Ishi, and I'll be with you for the next hour, unless you're feeling uncomfortable during the seminar."

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10**

 **Brenna O'Hare (18) - District 2**

The two have been in the same room for thirty minutes now. While Arlenna is practicing with the axes, she gets distracted from time to time as she sees Brenna 'murder' a couple of dummies with a kunai, a dagger, and two knives so far.

"Focus dear, focus," says the axe trainer, Lorelei.

Lorelei Anderside puts another piece of wood on the wooden stump in front of Arlenna. Arlenna focuses chopping it into two, but she only chipped off a small side of it.

"Hi! Would you like some wood and stump too?" Lorelei asks.

Brenna points at the dead dummies on the floor.

"Okay." Lorelei signals the avoxes to position some dummies around the room. She turns back to Arlenna. "Are you gonna watch her?"

Arlenna simply nods. She sees the dummies ready.

Brenna picks up an axe from one of the shelves. She slowly walks to the nearest dummy and launches her axe to the dummy's back. She does it repeatedly before moving to the next closest dummy. She strikes the axe on its back once again, but with a different swing. On the next dummy, she axes down the dummy from the head.

Lorelei turns back to Arlenna and whispers, "She's ready for the private sessions."

Brenna twirls her axe before decapitating the dummy with the force she exerted and with the help of the axe. The head flies to the next dummy. She holds the head of the next dummy and decapitates it too. It doesn't fly though, because she's holding it. Instead, she throws it to Lorelei and Arlenna's direction.

"What the...!?" Lorelei reacts. As she catches it, the green 'blood' of the dummy oozes out.

Brenna thinks, _I guess I can practice that throw from time to time. I'd love to do it on someone's actual head, not just on dummies'._

 _By the time we're in the arena, there's a chance that I'd meet her. There's a chance that I'd see her right in front of me, weaponless, and she has an axe. The next thing I know, she grabs my long hair, and takes me out quickly, but violently. I don't want to be that victim._ Arlenna watches Brenna amputate a dummy's four limbs. She's already covered in green ooze.

As she finishes, she launches her axe one last time on the last remaining dummy's stomach. She does it with so much force that the dummy's top fell off from the rest of the body.

Brenna goes to the mace trainer and requests for dummies once again. She selects a mace from one of the shelves while waiting for the dummies to be set.

Arlenna think, _Note to self, never go near the blue-eyed, slightly tanned, blonde girl from Two who is just my height._

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

 **Dorian Belcorn (18) - District 9**

Dorian doesn't wanna keep going around the training center with little Macy, yet she doesn't wanna not follow him.

"Dorian," she calls sweetly. "I'm tired."

 _Perfect,_ Dorian thinks. "Do you wanna check out the traps?"

"Okay."

From the ground floor, they meet the a girl with light brown eyes and hair.

"Hi!" she greets.

"Hello! I'm Macy, and this is my big friend Dorian."

Dorian rolls his eyes slightly and waves in a lame manner.

"I'm Corinna! Nice to meet you." She shakes hands with Macy, then with Dorian.

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

"We're heading to the traps station. How about you?"

"I wanna check that out too actually," Corinna replies. "I don't really know where to go. Can I go with you?"

Dorian thinks, _You're kidding me, right? She's gonna say yes. I'd be surprised if she declines it._

Macy says, "Okay. Yay, new friends!"

Dorian rolls his eyes. The elevator arrives, and they all enter.

 **Dante Blackwell (14) - District 12**

"Thanks for trying out the wires!" Vilnius says loudly. "I hope you enjoyed and learned something about them."

Nobody is on the same level he's on right now, so he uses this opportunity to try something else within the room.

Vriya greets, "Hi! Need help with camouflage?"

* * *

At the headquarters, Alistair Lysander arrives at work.

"Good morning, sir!"

"Good morning, Cassine."

"Will the meeting later be held here?"

"Which meeting?"

"The one with the stylists."

"They'll be using the multipurpose hall."

"Okay sir."

"Is Celestina here already?"

"Yes sir. She'll be working overtime."

"Ah great! I'll go see her now."

"Okay sir."

Alistair goes to visit the room full of monitors.

"Celestina."

"Yes sir!" Celestina responds.

"Update me what's happening with all the tributes right now."

Celestina clears her throat. "Okay."  
She points at the monitor showing Filly and Thomas. "Wall climbing."  
She moves to the screen showing Argentum and Jeanne. "Spears."  
She points to another screen showing Tira and Chip working on: "Shelter."  
She shows a screen with Rufus, Susie, Ingeo, and a doctor in a seminar. "Clinic."  
She point at another screen showing Dorian, Macy, and Corinna doing: "Traps."  
On the same screen is Dante doing: "Camouflage."  
She moves to another screen showing Orion, Lainey, Poppy, and Owen studying: "Edibles."  
She rotates the camera slightly to show Annaleigh, Horden, and Kobe working on: "Fire and Cooking."  
On another screen is Brenna smashing dummies with: "Maces."  
She rotates the camera slightly to show Arlenna chopping wood. "Axes."  
She shows a different scene of Kylie doing: "Yoga."  
Last but not the least, in a cold room is Ciara. "Cool endurance."

"Hmmm... very intriguing. I'm most intrigued with the edibles."

"Why is that, sir?"

"How many poisonous plants and berries do we have in the arena."

Celestina thinks, then says, "None sir."

"See? I don't want to be Seneca Crane. There are better ways to entertain the audience than putting poisonous berries in the arena."

"But sir, what if there will be tributes who will be showing us their memory skills with edibles?"

"That's up to you, because you will be giving them three percent of their score. As for me, I'm still thinking about it, but tributes who choose to show us their knowledge in edibles tend to screw up some other way early during the arena."

Celestina nods in agreement. "True."

"What time were you here?"

"Seven, sir."

"And you're leaving at...?"

"Seven as well, sir."

"Don't overwork yourself, but I admire your dedication to the job."

"Thank you sir!"

Alistair leaves the room. He goes to his station and starts his work, whatever he can work on.

* * *

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

"It's too cold." Ciara opens the door of the cool endurance room.

"Too cold?" asks Lambda.

Ciara tries to respond, but her chattering teeth answers it.

"Alright. If you wanna sweat, you can go back to the room beside."

"N-n-no thanksss."

"Alrighty then! Where are you off too?"

"S-somewhere else wh-where I ca-can sweattt?"

"The fifth! There's so much you can do with that room. You can even experience Capitolite technologies first hand!"

Ciara waves goodbye.

"See ya!"

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10**

"Can I come back?"

"No problem!" responds Lorelei. "Maybe we can try it on dummies when you come back."

Arlenna nods.

"See ya!"

Arlenna waves goodbye.

As Arlenna leaves, the place is being set with more dummies. Brenna picks up a warhammer from one of the shelves.

 **Brenna O'Hare (18) - District 2**

Jasper says, "Hit it, girl!"

With that, Brenna is smashing more dummies, to the left, to the right, through the center, from the top, from the bottom, basically in every possible way.

"She's one mad girl," whispers Taneyia to Lorelei and Jasper. "She took really long with that mace."

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

"Welcome to the simulation room!" greets the tall, slightly chubby, light-blue-haired, hazel-eyed guy with eyeglasses wearing a smart casual attire. "My name is Doctor Michael Hologram, and I am the proud inventor of this simulation room."

Somebody else enters the room.

"Hi! We're just getting started. My name is Doctor Michael Hologram, and I am the CEO of Vizarre Smart Rooms Incorporated. This is my invention, and I can't wait for the two of you to test it out. Since this is built for the training center, you have the option to pick between agility, stamina, stealth, and navigation."

The two girls look at each other, trying to decide what they both want.

"You can also test out the one-hour session for all four. How does that sound?"

Ciara says, "Sounds good."

The blue-eyed girl beside Ciara nods.

"Okay! First, I need both of you to stand still." Michael gets a weird-looking camera and goes around them to render their 3D models. "Now, wear these." He takes out two virtual reality headsets for them to wear. "Now, select a stage. Your first course is on agility." He gives them both a remote each, and they have both agreed on a meadow stage.

Both girls see a meadow course with their headsets.

"Good luck, have fun!" Doctor Hologram takes a seat on the corner of the room, where the control room is.

The virtual reality headset displays:

3

2

1

GO!

Gears and conveyor belts around the room start moving. Music starts playing from the speakers. Both girls start jogging through the course. Ciara, feeling competitive, jogs faster. She is a runner representing her school after all.

However, her companion, or rival, is also jogging just as fast as she is. What Ciara doesn't know is that this girl beside her is also a runner like she is.

Ciara squints her eyes and runs faster. Arlenna adapts to that speed.

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10**

"You're fast," Ciara states the fact.

Arlenna doesn't respond right away. "You too."

"I'm a runner. I'm an athlete."

Again, Arlenna thinks carefully what she has to say. "Me too."

 _I thought I'm the only runner in here! Ooh! Competition on speed eh? I am going even faster!_ As Ciara runs faster, Arlenna adapts to the speed.

 _What's with the speed? We're not in a contest. Oh wait, maybe she wants me to compete with her._ Arlenna now runs faster than Ciara. Ciara picks up her speed as they head to the bridge going to the other side of the meadow.

"I see you want to race, huh," Ciara reacts.

 _Oh? Oh._ Arlenna says, "Not really... but bring it on, I guess."

 _Good. Great!_ Ciara picks up her speed, and so does Arlenna.

They both encounter a portal ahead. They run to it, and they enter a city full of skyscrapers under the night sky. They both continue to run.

"STAGE 2" pops out on both of their headsets.

Michael watches the gears and conveyor belts move faster than usual. "You two sure are fast runners!"

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

Meanwhile, these two boys visit the pool.

"Are those the spots you were talking about?" Filly asks curiously.

"Yes. These will be the death of me, if I don't go out to volunteer and just rot in my district."

"Finally! My first students of the year," says a brown-skinned woman in a light blue and black rashguard along with a pair of blue and black swim pants. "Good morning!"

"Good morning!" both of them greet in unison.

"I have a silly but clever name like a lot of Capitolites, haha! I am Coach Hydro; The name is Gen Hydro."

"Good morning, Coach Hydro!" both of them greet once again in unison.

"Okay, maybe Coach Gen sounds better. Anyway, our lesson for today will focus on the basics. Oh but first, stretching. Just follow me!"

As they are stretching, a pair of district partners debate on moving from one station to another.

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11**

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11**

"Come on, Poppy! I wanna try the traps."

"Okay, okay. Let me just finish this."

 _Ugh! I'm going ahead now. Should I?_ "Um, I guess I'll go ahead. I'll just be upstairs in the traps station."

"Okay!" Poppy replies cheerily.

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3**

The district partners sit back and look at their efforts' result.

"Good job!" Wendy congratulates. "High five!"

Tira high fives with the shelter station instructor.

"Chip," calls Tira. She snaps her fingers in front of Chip.

Chip then high fives with Wendy.

"That's the spirit! Good luck!"

"Thanks!" Tira replies.

Since they are done learning how to build shelters, they now proceed to the wall climbing station.

 **Dorian Belcorn (18) - District 9**

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

While Macy and Corinna are getting to know each other more, Dorian uses this opportunity to do what he really wants to do: observe his rivals.

"I'll just use the washroom. Be right back."

"Okay!" both Macy and Corinna respond brightly.

 **Brenna O'Hare (18) - District 2**

She has already cleared the sixth floor. She finished trying every weapon there. Now she's on the seventh, where the range weapons are. She starts with the slingshot, and surprisingly for her, she struggles.

"Hold it like this," says Ultra.

Brenna tries to imitate it.

"No no, like this."

 _Dumb me! If I win, I'm gonna tell them to add slingshots to the training academy._ Brenna closes her eyes and remains patient as Ultra adjusts her weapon handling.

 **Kylie Ford (16) - District 6**

As she finishes the thirty-minute session in the heat endurance room, she decides to go back to the boxing station.

She sees the twins mimicking each other with random movements as if there's an invisible mirror between them. They both see Kylie back, and they both approach her in-sync.

"Boxing," she says.

Both of them point at themselves.

"Me!" says Gravity.

"No, me!" says Density.

"Fine, pick your twin, Kylie."

 _Aha! This other trainer knows me._ Kylie points at Gravity.

Gravity gives Density a raspberry, then he starts to teach Kylie some boxing.

 **Rufus Cornelii (12) - District 2**

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

 **Ingeo Olefin (14) - District 8**

"Well, thanks for listening," says Doctor Ishi. "Hope you learned something from me."

As she packs up her stuff, Rufus makes his way to the ninth floor, Ingeo makes his way to the tenth, and Susie makes her way to the seventh.

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1**

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4**

From the edibles station, they now move to archery.

Jeanne can not hold her excitement. "I love archery so much!"

As they arrive on the seventh floor, they see Brenna on the slingshot station and the girl from Seven on the throwing knives station.

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

 **Brenna O'Hare (18) - District 2**

 _"How fun! You are surrounded by more trained killers," taunts Kevin._

Susie shakes, and Argentum notices this action of hers, so he makes a typical career's intimidating face.

 _"You just made yourself a target. Congrats girl!"_

The shaking intensifies, and Argentum laughs from this. Jeanne notices this not long after, and she laughs along as well. Susie tries to hide, but there's nowhere to hide.

 _"You just made a joke out of yourself. They will remember your face now. They're gonna come for you! Hahaha!"_

"Are... you okay?" the trainer asks.

Susie doesn't respond as she still cowers in fear.

 **Lainey Sash (18) - District 8**

She moves from the heat endurance room to the cool one.

 _I should look for at least one ally,_ she thinks.

 **Dante Blackwell (14) - District 12**

He peeks from the staircase of the seventh floor. He sees three careers, two of which are on his target station, archery.

Dante thinks, _Nope. Can't risk it._

He leaves the area and proceeds to explore while thinking of his next destination.

* * *

"Everybody's early!" Alistair says. "Can we start the meeting?" Silence. "No objections? Good. To start off, where are the four stunt people?"

Four people raise their hands.

"I think you've already been told about this by Isis herself, but she would like me to remind you that each of you will have an interview on her late night show."

"She has already settled with us the dates of our individual interviews," says Titan.

"Great! Now, I have other stuff to do for the day, and I won't be needed in this meeting very much. Do all the stylists know what to do?" Again, silence. "Raise your thumbs up if you know why you're here." All the stylists do as they're told. "Good. I'll be downstairs, because my office is there. Stunters, we have a meeting tomorrow. Ciao!"

As Alistair exits the room, the twenty-four stylists and four stunters discuss about the arena outfits of the latter.

"I want to start with me," says Lucius. "The ones I like about mine are..."

"The dress by Bonita!" Chay says.

Some of the other stylists laughed, and Bonita wants to run in embarrassment.

"Haha! Nice one, Chay. Best costume I've ever seen. Right Bonita?" Lucius looks to Bonita's direction, and she looks very nervous. "In all seriousness, I liked Tasrita's the best mainly because of the flaring hair as it fits my theme."

"Boo yeah!" Tasrita reacts.

"Next, Valtron's was also well done. It looked futuristic while being utilitarian. We won't be doing crazy stunts though. Ganymede's sleeveless shirt, however, probably works best with the temperature of the environment I was given. So... I want an outfit that works better on higher temperatures. Retain the color scheme, and the flaring fair. I just need an outfit for higher temperatures."

There comes a long pause.

"My turn?" asks Titan.

"Go."

"I'll start by complimenting Anakyn's outfit. That was hands down one of the best outfits I've ever seen. Please give him a round of applause."

Almost everybody applauds to Anakyn's work.

"As I was saying, Anakyn's was amazing. The invisibility would be great to surprise the tributes. We're keeping that. Another outfit that really caught my attention was Trav's. Please give him a round of applause too."

A lot of people in the room applaud to Trav's work too.

"What made it magnificent was the sparkling light green cape. I love capes! I love sparkles! We're keeping that too. The polo and vest looks cute on me too."

"Ha, ha," Lucius reacts.

"Shhh!" Titan watches the people in the room laugh. "Point is, I want the outfit. Again, Anakyn's invisibility, plus Trav's idea. Okay I'm done."

"Me then?" Halizeia asks.

"Go on," says Lucius.

"Hmmm... I love most of the outfits! I love Rogue's the best though. The branches for sleeves was very clever, and I can't wait to try them out later. I'll probably keep the sparkling sandals, but perhaps I'll keep it within the theme color."

Rogue nods and jots down some notes.

"As for... Belle's outfit, I love the dress to details. There were layers of green used, and I want that for my outfit. The translucency towards the bottom of the dress was so pretty too. Don't make the dress too long and lacy, and everything should be good. Oh, and Rogue, I might need the shiny belt too."

Rogue raises a thumbs up to Halizeia.

"Your turn, Eltha," Halizeia says.

"Uh... I dunno, I don't hate any of them."

"There has to be a best outfit though," Titan says.

"Yeah, that belongs to Totochan. The sparkling ice blue dress was super cool to start with. I also get a translucent pale blue cape. Oh, and glass slippers. I love glass. Then I have gloves, and a crown! If there's anything I wanna change, maybe just the color of the crown to be more fitting to my theme. And then... and then...? Ah, I want the gradient Belvedere used to make his outfit. We can use that color scheme then add sparkles to it. And then... the translucent white sleeves from Anino would be a good addition too. I know I have a lot on me, but I'm not an actual stuntswoman to care about utilitarianism. All I really want is to feel better. I volunteered for personal reasons." Eltha sighs, then continues, "But we're not here to talk about that. Let's get working?"

"Chop chop!" Lucius says.

With that, the stylists work together to fix the stunters arena outfits. They will be rendered, printed, and tested over and over again until the stunters are satisfied with the outfits. They all have the whole day to do it anyway.

* * *

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10**

On Stage 15, or the Lunar Mansion stage, they both navigate the place together with the maps provided.

"There. The exit should be on the left."

A ghost goes past them in a drunk manner before they find the exit to the dark mansion on the moon. Upon exiting, their headsets show them that they are back in the simulation room. Michael approaches them to get their virtual reality headsets, and they both realize that they're actually on the room.

"Kudos in completing the challenge! I am impressed with you two! Is this your first time meeting each other?"

"Yeah," says Ciara while Arlenna nods.

"Good. It's very nice to see you two work and compete with each other." Michael gets something he printed from the corner of the room and gives it to them. "Here are your results. Thank you for trying out the simulation room. For the last time, I'm Doctor Michael Hologram. Good day!"

The two runners check and compare their results.

 _I forgot to get her name,_ thinks Ciara. _Well, almost._ Ciara reaches out one hand. _I want her full name._ "Ciara Graceanne Westley."

Arlenna looks up from her result sheet and reaches her hand out too for a shake. "Arlenna... Arlenna Winnie Scott."

 _Perfect._ "Where are you headed to now?"

"I'm gonna go back and practice with the axes once again."

"I'm gonna try out hand-to-hand combat on the second floor. Do you wanna meet later?"

"Okay."

"How does the library sound?"

"Sounds good. What time?"

"11:15?"

"Sure. See you there."

"See ya!"

With that, one of them enters the elevator going up, and the other takes the stairs down.

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1**

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4**

While Jeanne is still polishing up on archery, Argentum is lying down beside her. He's not too close though so he won't get accidentally stepped on. Suddenly, their ally appears right beside them.

"Brenna, correct?" Jeanne asks nicely.

 **Brenna O'Hare (18) - District 2**

Brenna nods. She signals the archery trainer that she wants dummies by pointing at those she 'killed' from the previous stations she visited. Brenna pulls back the arrow even though no dummy is set yet. As the trainer positions it, she releases it and it lands on the center of its neck.

 _Bullshit!_ Jeanne reacts internally. _This bitch thinks she's better than me!_ "I want dummies too."

 _I smell jealousy,_ Brenna takes another arrow and pulls it back. This time, it lands on the forehead.

Argentum sits up and claps from behind. "Wooo! Go careers!"

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

"Good job you two!" Coach Gen says, "I think you've learned enough for today?"

"Yes we have!" Filly responds.

"What are some tricks you can do on water?" asks Thomas.

"I'm not sure. There are so many."

"We can play around and try," suggest Filly.

"I'll get back to you two." Coach Gen walks to the other side of the pool and says, "Good morning! I am Coach Gen, Gen Hydro."

"Nice to meet you, coach," the boy and the girl say in unison. They came from the sword station and practiced there for an hour.

"Should you need help, I'm just within this area."

The boy says, "Okay, but I can swim. I'll just teach my friend how to swim."

"No problem!" With that, Coach Gen returns to Filly and Thomas.

 **Annaleigh St. Cloud (17) - District 1**

 **Horden Tanase (17) - District 4**

As they both dip themselves in the pool, Annaleigh says, "You look hotter than I expected when you're shirtless."

"You too. What is your secret?" They laugh at it. "To start, I wanna know if you know how to do bubbles."

"Bubbles?"

"You exhale from your mouth and nose while underwater, like this." Horden demonstrates it.

Annaleigh follows. "Hey, it's not that hard."

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

"Thanks coach!" they both say.

"My pleasure!" Coach Gen replies.

The two boys proceed to the locker room. Filly can not describe the feeling he feels towards his new friend. He feels relaxed around him, yet he wants to be with him all the time.

"Where should we go next?" Thomas asks.

"Uh... I dunno."

"What do warhammers look like? I've been wondering about it since I've heard of it earlier."

"We can check that out."

"Okay."

"Um... can I give you a hug for being a wonderful friend?"

"Why not?"

The two guys hug for about thirty seconds, before they go to two of the many showers available.

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3**

"Wires! Wires! Wires everywhere!" Tira gets wires and scatters them.

"Trainer Vilnius is ready to help! What do you need to know about the wire?"

"I am an electrician. I know A LOT about wires, but I'd love to hear more, especially on how they can be used in the games."

Chip analyzes how wires can be used for the games, but he listens to Vilnius too.

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10**

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11**

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11**

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

At the traps station on the same level, five tributes are still in the process of making traps.

"I wanna go to the washroom!" Macy announces.

"Me too!" Corinna joins.

As they leave for a while, Owen uses this as a perfect opportunity. _I forgot to ask the boy from Seven for an alliance. Oh well, at least I can ask - uh... Kobe? Yes. From here, my plan will work. Mwehehehe... I don't wanna ask the girls. I saw that big sketch guy earlier as their friend._

Owen approaches Kobe and says, "Hi, I'm Owen." He shuts his narrow eyes and smiles for a cutesy effect as he reaches his hand out.

Kobe glares in response. _Is this genuine?_ He studies the cutesy face. _I don't trust it. I don't trust him._

"Do you want to join our alliance?"

"Fuck off!"

"I'm just being nice." He makes the cutesy face again.

 _Yup, it's not genuine. He thinks he can manipulate me!_ "I don't need nice. Now fuck off!"

 _Okay, fine. There are still other potential allies for me to grab._ "Okay." Owen goes back to making his trap.

Macy and Corinna return, and so does Dorian.

 **Ingeo Olefin (14) - District 8**

As he enters the library, he notices a fellow tribute there. The number twelve is on his sleeve. He doesn't mind the fellow tribute. He just gets a book that interests him and takes a seat, quite far from the fellow tribute he sees.

 **Dante Blackwell (14) - District 12**

 _I'll just finish this book about mutts from the past games, then I'll go somewhere else more isolated._

 **Rufus Cornelii (12) - District 2**

He puts the gauntlet back. He feels very satisfied getting to try lesser known weapons for the past hour, such as nunchuks, whip, claws, even a boomerang.

He looks back to the trainer, the same person as the escort from Ten. Her narrow red eyes turns to Rufus' direction. She is satisfied with what she has seen, so she nods once, and Rufus returns the favor.

Rufus makes his way down to the second floor. He isn't surprised to see a few familiar faces there, such as the girls from Five and Six. The latter of which leaves, since she wants to try wall climbing now.

Not long after, a more familiar face arrives. Rufus' smile slowly creeps out, and so does his ally's.

 **Brenna O'Hare (18) - District 2**

After struggling but learning how to use the slingshot and showing off her skills in archery, she also tried other range weapons like darts, throwing axes, and throwing knives.

Density says, "Since my brother is still busy with the other tribute, would you two like to train under me together? Can you imagine being so bored waiting for tributes to come, but nobody is interested in wrestling or martial arts!?"

Rufus points at Ciara's direction, then does a few hand-to-hand actions.

"Sure! I can teach you hand-to-hand combat."

Rufus and Brenna look at each other and nod in agreement.

"Oh...kay. Let's get started, at last!"

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

Susie is still horrified from what Kevin told her to do: Kill the throwing knives trainer with throwing knives. She almost did, and what really intimidates her is Kevin's threat and the trainer's angry reaction.

 _"You almost did it! Why didn't you!?"_

 _I'm not going there again. He was nice._

 _"Well, I'm giving you a warning, because he will kill your family for you. It's to kill or be killed! Get it stupid girl!?"_

As Susie wipes her tears, she sees a pair coming to the shelter station as well.

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11**

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11**

Owen thinks, _Oh boy, oh boy! It's a potential ally. I'll talk to her after the trainer is done teaching._

"Hi! I'm Wendia Scrolle, but you can call me Wendy. I'm your instructor for shelters."

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

While the boys from Seven and Ten are busy with ropes and the tributes from Three are busy with wires, Macy and Corinna decide to try something on the same level.

"Let's paint!" suggest Macy.

"Okay, camouflage?"

"Uhuh."

As they go to the camouflage station, they realize that Dorian is gone again.

"Where is Dorian?"

 **Dorian Belcorn (18) - District 9**

Dorian arrives at the sword station. He sees an agender trainer waiting there.

"Swords?"

"Yes, please." Dorian receives a sword as he is given one.

"I, Tha Tau, shall teach you how to use a sword."

 _I already know how to use one,_ Dorian thinks. _Although, this is a different kind of sword._

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10**

At the library, the two meet. They see the boy from Eight reading something, but they don't mind him. They pass by the librarian's desk. Her light pink and light orange hair resembles some kind of sea monster with tentacles. She has light blue skin too. On her desk is her name: Librarian Fancie Twilight.

"Hello," the pink- and orange-eyed librarian greets. She fixes her eyeglasses. "What are you looking for?"

"Anything related to the hunger games, like tips, history, fun facts, atlas, I dunno - anything related to the games."

"Ah, you see those shelves over there?" points Fancie. "All of them contain hunger-games-related content."

"Thanks," Ciara says in response.

As both runners proceed to that area, the first book that interested them was titled, "Stories from the Fifth Quarter Quell."

They both open the book. Arlenna suddenly remembers, _Wait, isn't this Kylene's games?_

"For the Fifth Quarter Quell, to remind the citizens of the districts that young children died during the rebellion of the Dark Days and of the Mockingjay, children ages four to twelve were reaped," Ciara reads. "That is sick. That means my older siblings were eligible that time."

Ciara flips through a few pages of children crying. Twelve-year-old careers were either hesitant or excited to volunteer. They skip several pages and see the map of the arena. The cornucopia is a ball pit in the middle of the lake. There are playgrounds on certain areas, but there are also rivers bringing the tributes to houses around the arena. It's a fairy-tale-inspired village.

"This is my mentor's games," Arlenna says.

"Where is she?" Ciara flips the pages randomly. They get to the end of the book to see how she was crowned.

"Kylene Roa, youngest victor at the age of ten during her coronation," Arlenna reads.

"This is sick. Gosh. I'm putting this back. Let's get something else."

"Actually, the thought of being in the games makes me sick too."

"True. We're here to find random tips." Ciara returns the book. She finds one on the 139th Games. She takes it out and leafs through the pages again. "It's an indoor arena. I remember the science lab girl won."

"Maybe if the gamemakers are into indoor arenas, we'd know our arena."

"Maybe, maybe not, but I'm leaning to maybe." Ciara flips through a few more pages. "Poisonous mutt blood?" She points at the picture of a half-eagle half-squid mutt. "We have to watch out for these."

"Locks," says Arlenna as she flips one page to see the whole picture. They see a picture of a lady named Lara Lock-Smith, who sponsored locks into the games last year.

"Interesting."

"Look here. It says she may be interested in sponsoring for next year again, which is this year."

"Hmmm... okay. There's no way for us to prepare for locks." Ciara flips to the next page to see the dead boy from Twelve, who was locked inside a room with a bomb that he activated. "Sixteen-year-old Arbo Johnson suffocated from the smoke of the explosion. Thirteen-year-old Sparky Watterson locked Johnson in the laboratory after finding an opportunity to catch a victim."

"How about bloodbath size?"

"Good point." Ciara flips a few pages to the front. "The girl from Twelve, the boy from Seven, both from Ten, and the girl from Two."

"Five."

"Not too much."

* * *

"Celestina, may I see the tributes again?" Alistair asks.

She points on the nearest screen, where Dante moves from the heat endurance room to the cool one. "Endurance."  
Susie, Poppy, and Owen are on the next screen, learning how to make their own: "Shelter."  
The next screen shows Jeanne throwing darts while Argentum is lying down lazily. "Darts."  
On the screen above it is Filly, Thomas, and Dorian learning how to use: "Swords."  
Kylie is on the previous screen: "Wall climbing."  
Lainey, Horden, and Annaleigh are shown: "Swimming."  
Macy and Corinna are happily painting themselves. "Camouflage."  
Ingeo is reading a book at the: "Library." Celestina switches to a different camera with Ciara and Arlenna discussing about a book too.  
Chip and Tira are working with: "Wires." On the same camera, Kobe and Orion are nearby working on: "Ropes."  
Last but not the least, twin trainers Gravity and Density are teaching both District 2 tributes: "Hand-to-hand combat."

"Very well then. Nobody has found the true training ground yet eh?"

"None yet, sir. The closest to that are the girls from Five and Ten, as well as the boy from Eight."

"I see. Notify me when someone finds it."

"Yes sir!"

* * *

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District 7**

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10**

At the rope station, the instructor just finishes teaching Kobe.

Orion thinks, _This is the grumpy Ten kid! I'll try to cheer him up._ "Hi there!"

Kobe makes the same glare. _What. This kid wants allies too!?_

"Orion, nice to meet you."

 _Fuck off! No, fine._ "Kobe Bridger." He squints his eyes smaller, which is like saying I'll keep an eye on you. He reaches his hand out, and so does Orion for a shake. "What do you want?"

 _Your name? Hehe._ "Nothing really, just a _bridge_ to success."

 _Come on! Is this kid being so nice to piss me off!?_ Kobe squints his eyes once again. "Are you sure it's really a _bridge_ to success you're looking for?"

 _Think quick, Orion. Think quick._ "Kobe on!"

 _What the fuck!?_

"We're not getting to our bridge of success like this."

 _We? WE!?_ "I'll... I'll think about it." Kobe squints his eyes again. _This kid is genuine, but what the fuck!_ Kobe gets up from his sitting position, then he walks, then he trips. He notices his leg tied to a rope. "What the fuck!?"

Orion chuckles.

"You think this is funny!?"

"It's called a prank. It's fun, and funny."

"Oh, so you're trying to befriend me, and now you're playing a joke on me!?"

"Oh yeah, I was playing a joke on you earlier. Now, I'm not, because it's fun!"

 _Stupid fucktard. Does he know who he's messing with!?_ "Well, we're done. Fuck off!"

Orion just chuckles. _Can he not tell sarcasm? Haha!_

"Oh, so you still think this is funny!?"

"It is funny! I mean look at everyone."

Tira and Chip go back to working on their wires, while Macy and Corinna are back to their camouflaging, all pretending they weren't watching.

"You're gonna pay for this!" Kobe shouts.

"I don't have money." Orion pretends to pull out his non-existent pockets, then he goes back to experimenting on his ropes.

Kobe grits his teeth in frustration. _You're not getting away with this._ Little does Kobe know that his pride is not gonna help him.

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11**

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11**

As the instructor finishes talking about building shelters, They start making their own shelters.

 _Time to ask Seven girl,_ Owen thinks.

Poppy asks, "Do you want to build a shelter with us?"

 _Kevin says, "More like do you want to come with us to our demise?"_

 _I don't need allies. I don't need allies._ Susie wants to go to a different station instead, but she wants to apply what she learned too.

Poppy says, "It's okay to be afraid of strangers. I'm Poppy." She reaches out a hand.

 _"That's right girl. You're heading to your doom."_

"Susie." She reaches her hand out for a shake, and she shivers slightly while shaking. _Hope she didn't notice that._

"I'm Owen." He reaches his hand out for a shake too. _Poppy is fast! Guess I don't have to use my cutesy face, hehehe._ "You can eat with us later if you want."

 _"Yeah! Eat with them. Watch them betray you on Day One."_

 _I guess it won't hurt to have companions. Besides, if you kill them, I will have higher chances of winning._

 _"Suit yourself, Susie. Mwahaha!"_

"Uh, okay," Susie says nervously.

 **Dorian Belcorn (18) - District 9**

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

Filly and Thomas watch Dorian duel with Tha. It's been going on for about five minutes, then Dorian ends the match with victory.

Tha says, "Well done."

Dorian bows to his opponent. He then shakes hands with Tha. Filly and Thomas clap to Dorian's victory. Dorian approaches the two boys.

"The name is Belcorn, Dorian Belcorn."

"I'm Filly, and this is Thomas."

"Nice to meet you." Thomas shakes hands with Dorian.

"Nice to meet you too." Dorian then moves to Filly. "And you too."

"You did great there," Filly compliments.

"I appreciate your encouraging words of success," Dorian says. "I want to ask you two to join me in an alliance. Would that be agreeable to?"

"Sure!" Filly responds without hesitation.

"Why not?" Thomas agrees just as quickly.

"Very well then."

Afterwards, Dorian waits on the side of the same room, observing both of his newfound allies as Tha corrects their stances.

 _These two are better than the one Macy found, but the more the merrier. We shall conquer the bloodbath with our alliance size._

 **Rufus Cornelii (12) - District 2**

 **Brenna O'Hare (18) - District 2**

Brenna and Rufus are in the middle of a hand-to-hand combat. Rufus uses his height to his advantage, being half a foot shorter than his already-short district partner.

"This is intense!" Gravity says.

"It's dense!" says Density.

"If I get free food for every time you use that word, I'd die of overfeeding."

"Dense!"

Gravity rolls his eyes.

After what seems like ten minutes into the fight, Brenna finally catches Rufus and pins him to the ground.

"That's my girl!" says Gravity.

"Rufus did well too, in fairness," adds Density.

Both twins are clapping at their combat. Both district partners shake hands.

 _I will beat you on the actual,_ thinks Rufus.

Brenna thinks, _You're one tough mouse to beat. Can't believe you're twelve._

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10**

While the two are flipping through pages of another book, they see a familiar face returning a small riddle book to the shelf.

"Ooh! Nice of you two to visit the library. You must be Arlenna and Ciara."

"Aren't you the escort from Four?" Ciara asks.

"Yes, yes!" She reaches out a hand. "Ezairlayne. How can I help you two?"

"We're just looking for useful books that can help us in the games."

"Well, I can't tell you directly or else I'll be in trouble, but you're near the book. It is a thin book, and it has notes written with a ball point pen. Good luck and may the odds be ever in your favor!"

As Ezairlayne gets a different book from the same shelf and goes back to her seat, Ciara and Arlenna check out the book she just returned.

"Ridiculous Riddles," reads Ciara from the cover. She flips open a page and reads, "Delta Delta is at the delta praying to Delta for a delta." _What the hell?_

Arlenna gets the book and flips to a different page. "Can Kylene cook the cookies out of a cookie dough in a cookie pan?" _This is stupid._

They flip to another page, and they find 'vandalism' in it.

DING DING!

"Tributes, lunch is served," announces Fancie Twilight.

Arlenna and Ciara take a good look of what's written on the page.

"After lunch?" Ciara says.

"Sure," Arlenna replies.

* * *

After half an hour, Alistair checks on Celestina once more.

"I just wanna know who's seated together," says Alistair.

"Sir, I've already written down my observations for you."

"Wow! I'm impressed."

Written on the small sheet of paper is everybody's alliance status so far, as follows:

Alliances:

Careers - Argentum, Annaleigh, Brenna, Rufus, Jeanne, Horden

Smarts - Tira, Chip

Big Boy and the Happy Kids - Dorian, Thomas, Filly, Macy, Corinna

Track Stars - Ciara, Arlenna

Sketchy - Susie, Owen, Poppy

Loners:

Kylie

Orion

Ingeo

Lainey

Kobe

Dante

* * *

AN:

Holy cow! So much happened. I didn't want this to be very long, but I want to show everything happening. As you can tell by now, I don't do the usual POV you see in almost every SYOT out there. I prefer showing small chunks of everything. That way, you can see everybody and what they have done so far. I'll be doing this for 4 more times! At least I had fun.

I'd be interested to learn whatever predictions you have and whatever parts interested you. Please share them if you have any. :) Apologies about the length if you're not fond of long chapters like this. You can always give suggestions if you think anything needs improvement.

As always, hope you enjoyed! :D


	29. Training 1 (PM): Knowing and Learning

**Annaleigh St. Cloud (17) - District 1**

 **Horden Tanase (17) - District 4**

As the other careers have left, Annaleigh and Horden have a short and random conversation. They talk as they head to the fifth floor.

Annaleigh starts, "Ever wonder why buffalo wings are called such?"

"I don't think buffalo have wings!"

"Exactly!"

As the elevator doors open, they enter and Annaleigh presses the 5 button.

"Aren't they just like chicken wings?" says Horden. "But with sauce!"

The elevator doors are closing, but someone presses the button from the outside. Annaleigh and Horden notice the boy from Ten entering. He glares at them before and after pressing the 11 button.

Annaleigh says, "Yeah. It's just weird they call it that way."

Upon reaching the fifth floor, they see a big guy with light blue hair walking on a conveyor belt while wearing a virtual reality headset. "I'm coming! I'm coming!" He runs while on the conveyor belt, and he realizes that someone is calling his attention, from the headset.

"Oh, sorry I didn't notice. My name is Doctor Michael Hologram, and I am the inventor of this room. You may or may not know me as the CEO of Vizarre Smart Rooms."

"What can we do here?" asks Annaleigh.

"You have the option to pick between agility, stealth, stamina, and navigation. We also have the one-hour bundle to test out all four."

"Let's do it," Horden tells Annaleigh.

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10**

They exit the building when nobody is noticing them. They find a shuttle with an avox on the driver's seat.

Ciara recites, "Take Tiny Tammy to the tarmac to train truthfully."

The avox reacts in a surprised manner. Ciara and Arlenna ride the shuttle, and the avox starts driving.

"It's working?" reacts Arlenna.

"Let's find out," Ciara replies.

At some point, the avox drives off-road, and they enter a secret tunnel.

"This is interesting," Ciara comments.

* * *

Alistair looks at the screen showing a shuttle traveling to the secret tunnel. "Interesting how they found it very early. At least our efforts are not wasted."

Celestina says, "They will have a significant advantage over the other tributes."

"Indeed. Now, shall we check what everybody else is doing?"

"Okay sir. Some of them have just returned to where they were before lunch."

"Who are they?"

"Filament and Thomas are continuing with swords; Poppy, Owen, and Susie are still working on their shelters; and Kobe went back to the ropes."

"How about those who tried out other stations?"

Celestina points her finger to various screens again.

Rufus is walking around looking for books in the library, while Dante is seated somewhere hidden reading a book.  
Orion, Macy, and Corinna are taught by the trainer how to make fire.  
Lainey is studying about edibles.  
Argentum, Jeanne, Tira, and Chip are learning how to cook food caught in the wild.  
Brenna and Kylie are on opposite sides of the room learning how to use nunchuks.  
Argentum and Annaleigh are jogging in the simulation room.  
Ingeo is using a dagger, while Dorian is watching nearby.

"I thought we only have one pair of nunchuks?" Alistair asks.

"I'm not sure what exactly happened. I guess Leilah found another pair, or maybe the old one was still there."

"I guess that doesn't matter, but what is Mister Belcorn doing?"

"I notice he's been going around the building more often than training. I guess he's observing others."

"Well, that's not a bad strategy, but he better show us something decent later on. Anyway, just tell me if you need a sub."

"Yes sir."

Alistair exits the room. At the control room where most of the gamemakers are, a gamemaker approaches Alistair.

"Yes Cassine?"

"Sir, remember the bedtime stuff you told Brenda and I to buy?"

"Oh yeah. They said they'll deliver it today?"

"It just got here."

"Let me see."

They proceed to the common room. Alistair checks to see seven travel blankets in different colors, seven sleeping bags, three tents, and a travel pillow.

"This is all good." Alistair signed the necessary papers to pay and receive the bedtime materials. When the delivery people left, Alistair asks Cassine, "What else are we missing?"

"Mister Histolion's stuff."

"When is he dropping by?"

"He said today, but he didn't specify a time."

"I guess let's just wait and see."

* * *

Meanwhile with the stylists and stunters, they have finally finished.

"Hooray!" says Lucius. "Took so long, but it's finally perfect."

"Let's eat," says a stylist.

"I'm hungry," says another.

"Meeting's over," says Halizeia. "Thanks for helping everyone!"

* * *

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11**

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11**

Upon finishing their shelter, they move one level up to the camouflage station. They see Kobe glaring at them from the ropes station.

"Yay we're going to paint!" Poppy exclaims.

 _I have a bad feeling about this,_ Susie thinks.

 _"Why do you have to be so nervous with everything?" says Kevin._ Susie can imagine his eyes rolling.

Owen thinks, _Here is where I'll execute the first part of my plan. Mwahahaha! This will be SO FUN!_

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10**

The avox parks the shuttle. Both Ciara and Arlenna find themselves in an unfamiliar place.

"Tarmac? Tarmac." Ciara realizes. "This place is cool."

Arlenna thinks, _Shouldn't we be training?_

They explored a bit. They found stations to their surprise. There are stations for pattern recognition, sorting, locks, explosives, ice skating, farming, paragliding, zero-gravity, fishing, raft-making, canoeing, and diving.

Ciara comments, "Cool, huh."

"Do you think this place is special?"

"I don't know. Do you think we'll need any of these skills in the games?"

"I'm not sure."

"Wanna play the sorting thingy?" Ciara points at an arcade machine nearby.

"I guess I'll play whatever is beside it." With that, Arlenna checks out the pattern recognition machine.

Ciara moves to the sorting machine. _I wonder where we could use these skills in the games._

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1**

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4**

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3**

At the cooking station, Argentum burned the meat he is cooking.

"Babe, too much," Jeanne says.

"You can help me cook."

"You can do it, babe." What Argentum or the other tributes do not know is Jeanne's fear of fire. It's not too big of a fear, but she doesn't wanna get too near it.

On the other hand, Chip and Tira successfully cook the meat given to them.

"We did it!" Tira says as she raises a hand for a high five. She whispers, "Chip, Chip!"

Chip high fives with Tira.

"Yay! Where can we go to now?"

"Have you tried making traps?" asks the trainer.

"Nope," replies Tira.

"It's a good idea to try out that place. Trap making can be important."

"That's a good idea! Chip, let's go. Thank you Miss Pestle."

"No problem, and feel free to call me Jilin."

"Thanks Jilin, see you around!"

"My pleasure, see you around too!"

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

At the hand-to-hand combat station, Filly and Thomas watch the twin trainers demonstrating it.

"See?" says Density.

Gravity continues, "Not too hard, but not too easy."

"Why don't you two give it a try?"

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11**

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11**

Susie is facing the corner thinking, or at least that's what it looks like.

 _"You bet my sorry ass I or you will kill them first, or else they will kill you," Kevin says._

Susie cowers in fear and in silence. While Kevin torments her more, Owen and Poppy are exchanging words.

"Can you repeat that?" Poppy says softly.

Owen clears his throat, then says softly, "Susie hates you. She probably hates me too, but she hates you more. Look at her." They turn around and see Susie's head facing and leaning on the corner of the room. "She probably hates everyone."

"Should we ask her to leave our alliance?"

"We can't do that now that she's in." _That spoils my plan, kid._ "Let's just wait and see if she turns against us at the bloodbath."

"Okay."

Owen goes back to painting himself, and Poppy thinks of the possibilities of Susie's unknown plans. She holds her tears from sliding down her cheeks. _Shake it off. It's okay. Susie probably just needs some help from her home life._ As she wipes them off, she goes back to painting herself as well.

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District 7**

At the fire-making station, Corinna and Macy are struggling with making fire. The same can be said for Orion.

"Smoke! Smoke." Macy lets go, since she is afraid of fire.

"We were almost there!" Corinna says.

"It's okay. We can try again."

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3**

"Miss Tilde?" calls Tira.

"Tide will do. Yes?"

"What traps do you think will be necessary in the games?"

"Well, I'm not sure what the arena is, but Head Gamemaker Alistair is fond of indoor arenas with some parts of it outdoors."

"Do you know how to make a trap in a room?"

"Oh yeah, I can teach you that. It's gonna be like playing pranks on others, except this is no joke. It's a prank that should give you an advantage over your victim. The said victim can be immobilized or attacked with traps. Have you played pranks on others before?"

"Not much."

Chip looks up. He analyzes the discussion on pranks.

"Okay, so to start, you need to have materials or resources if you want to play pranks on others."

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10**

Ciara and Arlenna are now on the locks station. Although there is no trainer on the station, the goal is to unlock the tarpaulin covering the board by unlocking several chests and solving the riddles in them.

Arlenna opens a chest and gives the card from the inside to Ciara. Ciara reads aloud, "The northeastern key is a three-digit number combination. The first and last digits are the same. The middle digit is greater than the first or the last, but it is less than the first and the last combined. When added together, the three digits should sum up to eleven."

Arlenna steps on a stool to reach the combination lock on the upper right corner of the board. She tries out 1-9-1, followed by 2-7-2. She tries 3-5-3, and it unlocks.

"Good job!" Ciara comments. _What's her full name again? Ah, yes._

Arlenna brings down a card that was tucked from the inside of the upper right corner of the tarpaulin.

"What's that, Winnie?"

 _Winnie!?_ "It's another card." _Two can play that game._ "I found it tucked inside up there." _Graceanne? Too long, but I think it should do._ "Where do you think the lock is, Gracie?"

"Gracie!?"

"You started it." The two look at each other like they're challenging one another.

"Alright, Winnie. Have you read what's on the card?"

"It says 'I am the tiger.' Nothing else written aside from that, Gracie."

"Hmmm... why don't you help me think, Winnie?" She rolls her eyes sarcastically.

"Why not, Gracie?" She rolls her eyes slightly too.

 **Dorian Belcorn (18) - District 9**

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District 7**

Dorian arrived a few minutes ago. With some help and guidance from Jilin, Dorian helps Macy and Corinna start a fire successfully.

"Yay!" says Corinna.

"We did it! We did it!" Macy says in a singsong tone while dancing a bit.

 _I did it!_ Dorian rolls his eyes. He leaves again, leaving the two girls to themselves once more.

"Let's go to the clinic and learn medical stuff," Corinna suggests.

"Okay, but doesn't that start at three o'clock?"

"I guess so."

As Macy and Corinna leave the fire-making station, Orion perseveres with making his fire. He watched what Dorian did, but he doesn't understand what he is doing wrong.

 **Brenna O'Hare (18) - District 2**

After trying out the nunchuks, Brenna tried using the whip and the claw. Now, she's putting the gauntlet back in its place to get the boomerang. She throws it and attempts to catch it. She fails to, but the trainer catches it.

Leilah throws the boomerang with force from one end of the room. She successfully catches it when it reaches back to her. She gives the boomerang back to Brenna. She throws it once more, and Leilah catches it again. Leilah shakes her head. She then shows Brenna the right way to throw the boomerang, as well as how to catch it. She gives it back to Brenna once more.

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11**

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11**

While Poppy is at the washroom, Owen approaches Susie.

"Poppy doesn't like you. She was considering that you leave the alliance."

Susie looks at Owen in a frozen manner.

 _Kevin says, "HAHAHA! What did I tell you?"_

"I... I..." Susie stammers. _Get it together, Susie._ "I..."

"It's okay. I'm keeping you in our alliance whether Poppy likes it or not." Owen then gives Susie a bright smile. "Are you okay?"

"Uh... I..."

"It's okay. Don't tell Poppy I told you this."

Susie nods nervously. "O-Okay."

Owen goes back to camouflaging himself, then Poppy returns from the washroom. Susie eyes Poppy with disbelief, and Poppy notices this. _Is something wrong with her?_

 _Kevin says, "if I were you, I'd kill both of them before I get out of the bloodbath. Oh wait, you're not gonna listen to me, so I'll kill them myself. Mwahahahaha!"_

Susie shivers, then turns her head back to the corner. Owen notices this and approaches Poppy.

Owen whispers, "Susie was wondering if you went to the washroom to plot something against her. I told her to just calm down because you simply went to the washroom. Isn't that right?"

Poppy nods, then replies softly. "Yes. I just went to the washroom quickly and now I'm back."

"See? I'll tell her later she has nothing to worry about." Owen gives her a very bright smile, and Poppy returns the favor.

Meanwhile, Kylie arrives at the camouflage station from the ninth floor.

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3**

"I'm not that good with pranks, but I hope you learned something!"

"Yes we did, right Chip?" Tira snaps her fingers in front of Chip. Chip nods shortly after. "See? Thanks Tide!"

"May the odds be ever in your favor! Where are you headed to?"

"I guess we can check out the clinic. We missed the earlier session."

"Oh alright."

"See you around!"

"See ya!"

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10**

At the dagger station, he slashes a dummy's cheek.

"Well done, well done!" says Cholrus, the trainer.

Kobe leaves with satisfaction. He knows he hasn't done enough, but being able to inflict pain on others is probably a good enough revenge. The pain he has been through, caused by poverty, is probably harder to scheme for revenge. He's satisfied with the dagger at least, for now.

 **Annaleigh St. Cloud (17) - District 1**

 **Horden Tanase (17) - District 4**

At the library, Annaleigh and Horden return books about careers to the shelves.

"It's almost three," reminds Horden.

"I'm aware," replies Annaleigh as she opens the door and leaves the library with Horden.

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

From the cafeteria, Macy and Corinna finish eating their snacks.

"Let's go?" says Corinna.

"Okay. That was a nice break."

"I wonder who else we'll meet there."

"I'm excited!"

Corinna presses the elevator button for the doors to open. She and Macy see Annaleigh and Horden inside.

 **Annaleigh St. Cloud (17) - District 1**

 **Horden Tanase (17) - District 4**

"You forgot to press twelve!" Annaleigh says.

"I forgot, sorry." Horden presses the close button this time after the girls enter.

As the door closes, Macy turns to the careers.

"Hi, I'm Macy! This is my new friend Corinna."

"Hello!" Corinna waves to them.

Annaleigh and Horden look at each other, having the same thought in mind.

"Annaleigh. I'm from One." She reaches her hand out to shake it with the girls'.

"Horden, from Four." He does the same. "Are you heading to the clinic too?"

"Yup!" replies Macy.

The elevator reaches the twelfth floor. Filly, Thomas, Kobe, Tira, Chip, and the doctor are there. Orion also arrives from the staircase.

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3**

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10**

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District 7**

"We're just about to start. Please, have a seat. I am Doctor Ishi, and there's a lot of us this time. Only three people came for the morning session." Doctor Ishi counts how many tributes are present. "There's ten of you this time. Can you group yourselves by pairs?"

Annaleigh and Horden high five. Filly and Thomas bump fists. Corinna and Macy hug with cheers. Tira is snapping her fingers in front of Chip, then he nods.

"Is there anybody who doesn't have a pair?" Two people raise their hands. "You, kindly come here and sit with him."

Orion moves to Kobe's table, and Kobe glares at him.

 _What the fuck!?_ Kobe continues to glare at Orion. Orion just waves with a smile.

"Who knew I'd see you again?" Orion says in a friendly manner.

Kobe says softly, "Stay the fuck away from me."

"You're going to need your partners for most of the session, so stick with your partners at all times."

"Awww... I can't stay away from you," Orion reasons to Kobe.

"Fine!" Kobe says softly but angrily.

 **Dante Blackwell (14) - District 12**

Dante is at the archery station. His arrows are either out of target or on the outer rings. A few arrows are at the bullseye thanks to the trainer. Dante shoots another arrow, aiming for the center like anyone else would. As he releases, the arrow flies, then lands, on the outer ring.

Troffy Helios shakes her head. "There's not even wind here. Let me show you once more." Troffy takes her shiny pink bow. She picks up an arrow from the floor, pulls it back, then releases it. The arrow lands on the bullseye once more. "I swear this is easy."

Dante looks at the unsatisfied trainer. She twirls her curly shiny pink and silver hair. "You know, I'm honestly not sure if being a trainer here or being a trainer in the academies at home is worse. You better raise your game, kid. Nobody wins with pure luck. You need some skill at least."

The only thing Dante wants to do right now is just give up on archery. _There are probably other stations with more patient trainers._ Dante thinks Troffy is just one of those careers that were never picked to go to the games.

"What are you waiting for?" Troffy taps her foot repeatedly on the floor.

 _This is not worth it._ Dante returns the bow back on its shelf.

"Quitting so soon? Gosh, I'd rather train a career here. Where are they!? Only two came here this morning. OMG, this is boring. Why did I sign up for this?" She rambles further, but that's no longer relevant, especially to Dante as he leaves.

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11**

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11**

 **Ingeo Olefin (14) - District 8**

At the edibles station, the three who have been allied made a new friend, or at least Owen has. They have a small chat while Poppy and Susie are focused on the station.

"So what do you at home?" Owen asks.

"I... I like reading. I help my parents sometimes."

"I see. I wish I still have parents."

"Why?"

"They died from an accident." Owen sniffs dramatically. He thinks of them deep from his heart, and he lets out a few tears, for sympathy. "They were gone a long time ago."

"I'm sorry."

Owen notices that they're quite a distance away from the other two now. He still sniffs some more, and says the next several words in a softer voice. "Anyway, thanks for joining us. I was so worried that my two allies would betray me."

"Why?" Ingeo is surprised. He tries to lower his voice to Owen's level.

"Because they've been acting weird after lunch. I don't know why."

"Maybe they're just thinking of home too."

"Maybe. I don't really know. Maybe I'm just paranoid. Maybe they're really not comfortable staying with me." Owen notices a tension between the two as they identify the same plant and debate whether it's poisonous or not.

"We can stay with them first. After the bloodbath, we let both of them leave if they want to." Ingeo thinks it's a good idea to share their goods first before they split up, if ever they will.

"Okay." _It's working. Mwahahaha!_ "Thanks for the comfort, Ingeo."

"Thanks too, Owen."

 **Dorian Belcorn (18) - District 9**

Dorian throws some knives at the throwing knife station.

"Not like that!" says Pulsar Galaxy, the throwing knives trainer. "It's like this." He throws a throwing knife and it hits a dummy square in its chest.

Dorian pays only a little attention to that. He's aware that the careers nearby are paying attention to him too, so he's just acting weak to stay away from being marked off as a threat. In fact, he never wanted to be trying out throwing knives in the first place. He's just here to observe the couple. He can find some weaknesses from both of them now that he's that near to them.

Dorian throws another throwing knife. It hits the dummy's foot.

"Not bad, not bad."

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1**

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4**

"Babe, let's do this again."

"The chakram again!?"

"Babe, do you get to play with these at home?"

"No."

"Then again. This is fun."

"Okay."

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3**

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10**

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District 7**

 **Annaleigh St. Cloud (17) - District 1**

 **Horden Tanase (17) - District 4**

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

"The iodine can kill bacteria and fungi, but don't drink the water right away." Doctor Ishi puts the iodine down to her table. "If you're done wrapping the bandage on your partner, remove it like how your partner did it earlier."

"Yay this is easy!" Macy says excitedly as she removes Corinna's bandage.

 _Too easy._ Horden removes the bandage from Arlenna.

"Chip, focus," says Tira. Chip slowly finishes putting the bandage on Tira's arm.

"I've seen nurses do this so many times already." Thomas successfully removes the bandage from Filly's leg.

Orion realizes that he's almost near the end.

"Hurry up!" Kobe says. "We're gonna fall behind."

"You sure?"

"Yeah, come on!"

With that Kobe quickly removes the bandage until the end.

"YOUCH! OW! What the fuck!?"

Orion giggles. "You told me to hurry."

"Did it hurt like THAT when I removed your bandage?"

"No."

"Then why the fuck did I get a surprise!?"

"Because you're my partner!" Orion smiles brightly as he shows Kobe the end of the big bandage, which has a small adhesive bandage attached to it.

"What the fuck!?" _This kid is fucking smart! I hate him!_ "I hate you!"

Orion just smiles like usual.

"I hate you!" Kobe repeats. _Grrr..._

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11**

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11**

 **Ingeo Olefin (14) - District 8**

As the four of them study edible meat, Owen notices Susie and Poppy not talking to each other. _This is working. Mwahahaha!_

Poppy tries to focus on studying edible meat without looking at Susie.

Susie is cowering in fear, about to break down in tears.

 _"Your sister? She's pathetic. Yeah sure, she's the only sister you had, but who killed her? Right."_

Susie turns around from the rest of them.

"Are you okay, Susie?" Owen asks.

Susie doesn't respond for a while, since Kevin carried her away.

 _"But hey, at least you can kill! I can't wait until you'll be allowed to kill your allies, one by one!"_

"Susie?" Owen repeats.

"I-I'll just g-go to the wa-ashroom." Susie walks away from them in tears. She tries to hide it, but her voice is shaking.

"I wonder what happened to her," Ingeo says.

"She's been acting weird, like I said," Owen reasons out. "Let's get back to where we were, shall we?"

 **Rufus Cornelii (12) - District 2**

Rufus drops the rope as he finishes exploring what he can do with it. he moves to the wire station nearby.

"Welcome to the wires station!" Vilnius Heilong greets. "What do you want to learn about it?"

Rufus pauses to think, then continues with, "Everything."

The trainer from the rope station makes a facial expression with a nod that only Vilnius sees.

"Alright then. Shall we start with the history?"

No response.

"So wires were used to kill people in public, as a punishment. It was a long long time ago. It's not really a weapon used in combat, but it's something called the garrote. The prisoner takes a seat, and the wire would be placed... here." Vilnius motions it based on his imagination. "Most people think you suffocate the person with the garrote; but really, you break the prisoner's neck by twisting the wire tighter and tighter, until it breaks their spine." Vilnius looks at Rufus, emotionless. From the far back, he can see the same trainer from the rope station telling him that Rufus is really like that, in sign language.

"Okay! I hope you learned something. So let's see..." Vilnius gives Rufus a wire so he can try out what he can do with it by himself.

 **Lainey Sash (18) - District 6**

"Hope you learned something!" says Coach Gen from the swimming pool.

"Definitely did. Thank you!"

"My pleasure. I heard you volunteered. Why is that so again?"

"Someone way younger than me got reaped, and I thought volunteering was the selfless and right thing to do. Someone else volunteered for me when I was twelve."

"Oh wow. Tough luck. At least it's not just the careers who are always winning."

"The careers aren't usually happy about that change."

"Oh yeah. A lot of things have changed ever since the games was on its centennial. I don't think they teach that in school. You can check out the library for more information."

"I'll think about it. Thanks again, coach!"

"Sure sure. May the odds be ever in you favor!"

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10**

"And that's how fishin' works, girls," Polu says.

"How much water will there be in the arena?" Ciara asks.

"I can't tell, and I also wasn't told. All I know is that there will be water, so fishing skills may come in handy when you need food."

"Alright then. Thanks anyway."

"Thanks!" Arlenna follows up.

The pair leaves the fishing station.

"Now what?" Ciara asks, wondering what to do next. "Oh I know! I want to try paragliding. I wanted to do that at home, but we don't have paragliders. What do you think, Winnie?"

 _Paragliding!? Doesn't that involve flying?_ "Uh..."

"Come on! Let's give it a try."

"Maybe I'll stay here and..."

"Oh no no no! Why don't you wanna try it out?"

"I'm... uh... afraid of heights."

"It's nothing!" _But hey, I'm biased. You're talking to a rock climber, Winnie!_ "What's wrong with heights?"

"It's... a long way down."

"That's nothing! Come on, just give it a try. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. You might as well try it while you still can."

 _Uh... I won't die from that right? I mean, I'll probably be dead too in a few days._ "Ugh, okay Gracie."

"Yay, let's go!" _AAAHHHHH! I'm so excited for this!_

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3**

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10**

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District 7**

 **Annaleigh St. Cloud (17) - District 1**

 **Horden Tanase (17) - District 4**

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

"I know you won't remember everything I just said," Doctor Ishi says. "So pay attention to the colors of the bottles."

"They're all in the same color," says Annaleigh.

"Yeah, but there is a blue line beside the barcode," Horden says.

"Yup, that's the color. The colors will help you remember some, most, or all of what you need to remember." Doctor Ishi checks her watch. "Oh look, it's already time. If you have any questions, I'll be here until the training center closes. Hope you all learned something!"

With that, some of the tributes left immediately, while others thanked Doctor Ishi, or asked her a few questions regarding what was just discussed.

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10**

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District 7**

The two proceed to the knives station.

"Stop following me! Fuck off!" Kobe says.

Orion says, "I'm here to learn how to use knives too."

"Oh really?" Kobe does an eye roll.

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3**

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

"I'm Macy!"

"And I'm Corinna."

"My name is Filament but you can call me Filly!"

"Thomas."

"This is Chip, and I'm Tira. Nice to meet you all!"

"Where should we go next?" Corinna asks.

"How about the kitchen, where we can chat?" Filly suggests.

"We just ate," Macy responds.

"We can talk further at the endurance rooms," Tira inputs.

"Yeah, that's a great place to chat," Thomas agrees.

With that, they all move to the fourth floor.

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1**

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4**

As they arrive on the fourth floor, Jeanne points to a station. "Babe, let's check out one of these rooms."

"Do you wanna be hot, or do you wanna be cool?"

"I don't wanna be cool. I wanna be cold! We're careers! We need to be cold!"

"Okay babe."

As they enter the cool endurance room, the other group arrives on the fourth floor. They see the two careers enter one room, so they enter the other.

 **Kylie Ford (16) - District 6**

Kylie has been training all day without an ally. She's been considering having an ally, but she doesn't want too many allies. Based on her observations though, most tributes already have alliances. _It's probably too late to get an ally._ She's also too nervous to ask the other individuals who still don't have allies. Will she get an ally?

As she builds her shelter with the trainer's guidance, she notices something shaky between the group of four. She did not really consider joining them, and especially not now as she notices a weird tension between its members.

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11**

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11**

 **Ingeo Olefin (14) - District 8**

"I got ninety-six correctly," Ingeo says as he finished the edibles-inedibles quiz.

"I got sixty-three only," says Owen. _But, I answered some of them wrong on purpose, because I'm not stupid and gullible._

"I got eighty-seven, yay!" Poppy shows her results to her allies, except Susie, since she's still not finished.

Susie stares at her quiz, at the screen, trying to remember what she studied. Oh wait, did she?

 _"You've gotta be kidding me. That's inedible!"_

Susie selects inedible and gets it incorrectly.

 _"The next one sure is inedible," Kevin says sarcastically._

Susie selects edible, and gets it incorrectly.

 _"Lol."_

Susie pauses and stares at the screen. _What's the point of learning this anyway?_

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10**

At the top of a cliff, the instructor finishes explaining the basics of paragliding. Ciara seems very excited, while Arlenna is very worried.

Harbin says, "That's all you need to know about paragliding. Any questions?"

Arlenna raises her hand, "Sir, you said that accidents can..."

"Winnie! Stop worrying. It's not gonna get you anywhere."

"You don't have to worry about it, kid," Harbin says. "Most of the accidents occur due to wind conditions. The gamemakers have control over that. Just keep in mind what I said earlier, and you'll be fine."

"I'm ready to go!" Ciara says.

"The wind is ready too. What coincidence!" Harbin says.

"I'M READY!" Ciara sets her paraglide up, and Harbin is surprised she got it in one try. As Ciara's paraglide is already up and ready, all she had to do was run off to the cliff. Arlenna watches uncomfortably as Ciara screams with excitement. "AHHH! I NEVER THOUGHT I'D BE ABLE TO DO THIS!"

"Are you ready?" Harbin asks Arlenna. She thinks hesitantly, unable to answer before Harbin continues, "I can help you paraglide, if that will help."

"I'm afraid of heights."

"Oh, I see. Your friend must have convinced you to come here with her, right?"

Arlenna nods.

"Why not try something new and face your fears?"

Arlenna thinks again, not knowing what to say.

"It's okay if you don't want to. I get it."

Arlenna nods slowly. She decides to watch Ciara enjoying from the distance.

 **Lainey Sash (18) - District 8**

At a dark fortress, Lainey hides by a corner. She sees a cyclops guarding the next wall, but it walks in a certain pattern. She also tries to find another way to reach the goal. Eventually, she slowly sneaks past the cyclops and finds herself at a balcony of the fortress. She finds a path on her left.

 _I didn't expect virtual reality to be this fun and engaging, and I get to train my stealth at the same time!_

She slowly walks to the path, descending to the lower level of the fortress. From the perspective of the real world, the elevated and modifiable ground has a way down to the "lower level" of the fortress. Lainey finds herself in a clearing, and she looks in her surroundings to find a dragon flying on the other side of the fortress.

 _That means I can't go there._

She finds out that the clearing is a dead end but with a switch. From the real world perspective, she pushes the lever then the ground moves as if she's being lowered to a lower level of the fortress. Lainey reaches an enclosed dungeon as the ceiling closes above her. She sees laser traps ahead, but the portal to the next course is visible.

Doctor Hologram tells his staff, "She knows what she's doing so far, but there are minor mistakes she could have avoided. Like..."

"Like running after the knight?"

"Yeah. She could have hid herself in that opening. It was an obvious hideout. At least, she has better odds than the other outer district kids when it comes to overall skills."

 **Annaleigh St. Cloud (17) - District 1**

 **Horden Tanase (17) - District 4**

After Doctor Ishi's seminar, the career pair started learning martial arts under the Psi twins. After all, neither of them got to learn that in the academies at their respective districts.

Gravity starts, "This is how you kick high."

"And this is how you block!" Density ends.

"Now go."

"And try it out!"

Horden kicks high and Annaleigh backs off.

"Wait," she says. "Like this?"

"That brings us to our next point!" says Density.

"There are several ways to block," continues Gravity.

"Like this!"

"And like this."

"Also like this!"

"And also like this."

Horden says, "Can we take it slowly from here."

"No problem," says Gravity.

"I can even tell you why!" Density confidently adds.

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11**

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11**

 **Ingeo Olefin (14) - District 8**

"You make fire like this." Jilin rubs the wood to make the fire. Eventually, she got it. "See? Easy peasy."

Poppy and Ingeo are seated in front, while Owen is at the back with Susie. While Susie is not looking, Owen taps Poppy's back. She turns around and makes eye contact with Susie.

 _What do you want?_ Poppy glares at Susie.

Susie, confused, blinks her eyes. _What?_

 _"She's gonna kill you, so you gotta get to her first," Kevin says._

Owen taps Susie's shoulder. "Are you okay?"

Susie looks at Owen, processing the situation. She nods, but in a nervous manner. _When can this be over?_

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3**

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

As they switch endurance rooms with the career pair, they find out that they prefer heat endurance over the cool one.

"I-Is it g-gonna be th-this c-cold in the arena?" Macy asks while shivering.

"It could be," Thomas replies.

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1**

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4**

"Babe, it's hot in here," says Jeanne as she fans herself with her bare hands. _I want him to take his shirt off._

"Well, it's the hot room."

"Do you wanna check the pool later?"

"Sure! I'm down to try it out." _On second thought, I'm not a big fan of open water._

 **Dante Blackwell (14) - District 12**

Dante stays in the kitchen after leaving the traps station. He doesn't know where to go and doesn't know what to do. He stays in the kitchen to get some snacks, just to fill his stomach.

 _Where should I go next?_

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10**

"Oh my gosh, Winnie. You should have at least tried!"

"Gracie, I don't like heights."

"Okay fine, but if we come to a point that we have to paraglide away from danger, it's do or DIE! Got it?"

"Mmhm." Arlenna nods.

"What's this?" Ciara sees a trainer in full pink holding an oar.

Akalaiza Lima says, "Welcome to the canoeing station! Wanna give it a try?"

"You better not be afraid of water, Winnie."

"No I'm not."

"Good! Let's try it out."

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10**

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District 7**

While Orion and Kobe are listening to the trainer explain what can be done with a knife, Kobe finds an unusual dagger nearby. He plays with it, then smiles maliciously. He looks at Kobe, listening attentively. Orion is already close enough. He looks at Kobe's open foot and smiles maliciously.

Cholrus Caravan says, "Now this is part of defense, but make sure..."

"AHHH!" Kobe screams. He watches the dagger on his shoe, courtesy of Orion. He can only think of the pain on his right foot. "WHAT THE FUCK!?" He looks at his shoe longer, and Orion's hand is still on the dagger. He lifts it up and the plastic blade of the dagger comes out from the inside of the toy due to gravity. Orion pushes the plastic blade back in and pulls it out, then smiles like usual.

 _IT WAS A FAKE DAGGER! WHAT THE FUCK! WHAT THE FUCK!_ Kobe looks enraged. "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT ABOUT!?"

"Oh! You found it. I was playing pranks on my fellow trainers, especially the newbies." Cholrus gets the fake dagger from Orion. "Thanks by the way. Don't worry kid, your foot is okay."

Kobe looks at his shoe again and sees nothing wrong with it. It's as if a magician returned it in perfect condition after destroying it. He takes off his shoe to make sure. There's no blood on his foot. _That was a joke!? It was a prank!? What the fuck!?_

Orion smiles semi-guiltily.

"Look kid! If you're just gonna kill me with a fake dagger, get the fuck out!"

"It was a good joke," Orion says.

"NO IT WASN'T!"

Cholrus nods slightly as he watches the two fight. They don't see him nod, however. He agrees it was a good joke at least. "Okay guys. Time to calm down and get back from where we were. Is that okay?"

Kobe glares at the trainer. Orion gives him a thumbs up.

"Okay then. Where were we?"

 **Brenna O'Hare (18) - District 2**

She arrives at the fifth floor and sees the inventor giving the results to the girl from Eight.

 **Lainey Sash (18) - District 8**

"Thank you for coming and we hope to see you again!" Doctor Hologram reaches a hand out for a shake.

Lainey shakes it. "Thank you." She walks to the elevator. _Maybe I should check out the shelter station._ As she nears the elevator, she makes eye contact with the girl from Two. Her cold and neutral look sends a shiver down her spine. She presses the up button outside the elevator as she watches the girl from Two approach the inventor.

Brenna thinks the girl from Eight is strong. She volunteered after all. _Should I mark her off as a threat? I guess it's too early to tell, but I have to watch out for her._

"Hi! My name is Doctor Michael Hologram."

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3**

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

After the endurance rooms, they proceed to the library.

"Where should we stay?" Macy asks aloud.

"Shhh!" Fancie the librarian looks at them.

"We should stay there." Tira points at a table with six seats nearby. "We should also find books that might help us in the games."

"Okay," agrees Filly.

Thomas points out, "Isn't that the escort from Four?"

She notices them immediately, because they were loud enough. She waves to them, and Filly, Macy, Thomas, and Tira wave back.

"I'm tired," Chip whispers to Tira.

"Okay, just stay here and rest," Tira replies. _Is it just me, or do I feel like a mom or big sister to Chip?_

 **Rufus Cornelii (12) - District 2**

He's been at the twelfth floor for quite some time now, learning about poisons. He thinks it's important to have an unexpected skill to take advantage of his fellow careers later on. This might be the best weapon to use against them. The games aren't always about fighting hard. Sometimes, it's about fighting smart.

Sierra Tosca says, "This one is oxalic acid. A really small portion can kill someone immediately, although I don't think you'll find this anywhere in the arena. Actually, you won't find poison in the arena, and nobody usually sponsors poison. Well, rare cases only, but really rare."

Rufus nods as he understands this. _Okay. Maybe I'll need a Plan B._

 **Kylie Ford (16) - District 6**

Kylie listens to Tide as she teaches her how to make traps for hunting, for food.

"It's not hard. Why don't you give it a try?"

 **Dante Blackwell (14) - District 12**

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10**

Dante listens to Cholrus explaining to him the different ways to use a knife, while Kobe is staying there trying to understand by himself what he can do with a knife. While Dante is not interested in allies, Kobe doesn't have so many choices for allies. He's still thinking whom he should ally with. _Should I ask my mentor? Do I need to ask him?_

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1**

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4**

"My my, I didn't know you swim so well."

"Well duh! I'm from Four, babe."

"I can't swim so well."

"Well, babe, we won't know until you dip your ass here!"

"Haha!"

"What's funny? The only water you've touched is shower water. Come and join me." Jeanne seductively uses one finger to call Argentum and join her in the pool. She follows it with a flirty wink.

"Alright, alright." Before Argentum could jump to the pool reluctantly, Jeanne gets up and pushes him. She then jumps on him, sticking her four limbs on him like he's her teddy bear. Argentum panics a bit, "Babe! Babe!"

"It's nothing, babe."

He tickles her stomach, then she follows. Coach Gen awkwardly watches them from her lifeguard post.

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10**

Lima tells them, "Well girls, hope you had fun canoeing. It's already closing time. Please come back tomorrow if you wish."

"Closing time!?" reacts Ciara.

"I'm tired too," Arlenna says.

"Well then, I guess we'll just have to come back."

With that, Ciara and Arlenna take the shuttle back to the training center.

* * *

Alistair and Celestina watch the runners leave the Secret Tarmac.

Alistair comments, "Well, those two have a neat advantage, but not all tributes who have discovered the tarmac made it far."

"We'll just have to see how they'll fare, sir."

"Precisely. Can we check on everyone else?"

Celestina points on various screens again. They show the following:  
Lainey is building a shelter from scratch.  
Tira, Chip, Filly, Thomas, Macy, and Corinna are at the library with books, but most of them are chatting.  
Kobe is sitting still near the knife station, while Dante is still trying to learn knife tricks from the trainer.  
Poppy, Owen, Ingeo, and Susie are at the fire station trying to make fire out of wood pieces.  
Annaleigh and Horden are training with each other with spears.  
Rufus is still experimenting on poisons.  
Kylie is learning how to make traps.  
Dorian is properly showing the trainer his actual skills with throwing knives.  
Jeanne and Argentum are swimming and flirting at the pool.  
Orion is being taught how to work with a wire.  
Brenna is about to start the third of four courses in the simulation room.

On Alistair's hand is a sheet of paper with the updated alliances:

Alliances:

Careers - Argentum, Annaleigh, Brenna, Rufus, Jeanne, Horden

Big Happy Family - Tira, Chip, Thomas, Filly, Macy, Corinna (Tira and Chip haven't met Dorian to have an official agreement.)

Big Boy and the Happy Kids - Dorian, Thomas, Filly, Macy, Corinna

Gracie and Winnie - Ciara, Arlenna

Sketchier - Susie, Owen, Poppy, Ingeo

Loners:

Kylie

Orion

Lainey

Kobe

Dante

"It's just an hour and a half, then we can call it a day," Alistair says.

"I thought Mister Histolion is coming?"

"Oh. You're right."

It's not the end of the day yet. It's just the beginning of the night.

* * *

AN:

First update of the year, and I finally got this out! I didn't have writing constipation. I just didn't have enough motivation to write. I also didn't have as much time on the past 2 months. Took a while to get this out, but thanks for understanding! :)

The writing style here is still the same as last chapter's. The objective is to show everything, but it gets tiring at times. Not sure if this writing style is working here, but I can imagine it working better when we get to the arena. Let me know what you think of the writing style. I don't plan on changing it anymore for consistency's sake, although I'm pretty poor with consistency tbh. :/

I'd like to hear your comments about this chapter, like every other chapter I've written. Suggestions for improvement are welcome. Suggestions on what you wanna see on the Capitol nights are also welcome. Predictions are welcome too. There will still be a bit of training next chapter, since this chapter ends at 5:30 PM but the training center closes at 7 PM.

This is a late holiday gift, but ShunKazamis-Girl has made a blog for the story! :D To check it out, just go here: cards-of-mortality-140th. weebly. com

Next update will most likely be next month. I have a 4-week break from April to May, and I hope to pump out update after update by then.

That's all for now. Hope you enjoyed the chapter, and the blog! :)


	30. Night 2: Tell Me More About It

AN:

Night chapters (like this) are for fun. There's gonna be some world building; interactions with escorts, mentors, and stylists; and fun and funny moments. At the end of this night chapter, as well as the next 3, Isis will be interviewing a stunt person.

That's just a heads up for the night chapters. Other than that, I should be able to reach the private sessions by the end of May. It's my goal. :3

Oh also, this should've been mentioned last chapter, but ShunKazamis-Girl would like to know your thoughts about the blog, which I shared last chapter.

Enjoy the chapter! :)

* * *

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10**

Kobe sits at one corner of the library, observing the big alliance. The guy from Nine visits them. Kobe eavesdrop with a book in hand.

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3**

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

 **Dorian Belcorn (18) - District 9**

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

"Good evening fellas," Dorian greets. "Who are these two?"

Chip is still resting his head on the table. "I'm Tira and this is Chip, and we're from Three." Tira lets a hand out. "Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. I come here to tell all of you that I've been observing everyone today."

"Ooh!" exclaims Filly.

"I see now." Macy pipes.

"What have you gotten based on your observations?" Tira asks.

"Well, let's start with the careers." Dorian looks around the room. Only the bratty Ten kid is in the library with them. He notices this and makes his voice softer, to avoid him eavesdropping if ever. "They haven't been cooperative altogether."

Thomas wonders, "Why?"

"The girls from One and Four seem to have conflict with one another. We can take advantage of their conflict to leave the bloodbath safely altogether."

"Hmmm... are you sure there's conflict with them?" Tira asks. "What if they just went their own ways?"

"I know conflict when I see it."

Some of them nod their heads.

"Aside from that, make sure to watch out for both of Two."

"Why?" Thomas scratches his head. "Is it because they're more than just careers."

"They've been showing off deadly moves and attitudes. They might be under the radar now, but we don't wanna get near them."

"Okay," some of them respond.

"Next, is it just me, or did any of you see the girls from Five and Ten?"

Excluding Chip, they look at their teammates and wonder.

"Ah, right. They have mysteriously disappeared."

"How do you know they're not at home?" asks Thomas.

"They could be, actually, but I don't think they'll be at the villas." All of them pause to think. Dorian continues, "Fil, ask your district partner when you get back, and don't make it obvious that you're telling the rest of us."

"Uh, okay!" Filly responds.

 _I can't talk about the Ten kid since he's here. Hmmm..._ Dorian thinks. "Have you seen the alliance with both Eleven kids?"

"Yeah," Tira responds.

"Don't mind them. They'll self-destruct. The girl from Seven is pretty sketchy. I suggest staying away from her at all times." Dorian tries to think of more things to say. "Well, that's all for now. We can meet back tomorrow, same place, maybe 5:30."

"Okay," responds everyone else, almost.

Kobe got most of their discussion, since some members are louder than others. He wishes for an ally to lean on to now, but he also thinks he might not need an ally. He's still in conflict with himself. At the same time, however, he did notice his district partner's absence this afternoon. _Maybe we just didn't cross paths? No. I dunno. I don't wanna talk to her._

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

As her allies took the shuttle back to their respective villas, Susie stays in the heat endurance room to reflect. She sits at the corner of the room, hoping against hope. _It's never gonna end well. It's never gonna end well. What am I gonna do!? I don't wanna kill my allies, but what if I have to?_

To her relief, Kevin decides not to disturb her. She can imagine him smiling maliciously as she reflects in this isolated room. _I want this to be over soon._

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10**

The shuttle takes them back to the training center's entrance. From there, they ride another shuttle taking them to their respective villas.

"Gracie, what if the other tributes noticed us gone?"

"Let's just tell them we slept during the afternoon or something. They won't know."

 _They will._ "But..."

"It's fine. Don't be such a worrywart, Winnie. We're allowed to rest anytime during the two and a half training days."

"Um... okay then."

The shuttle arrives on Ciara's villa first. "Well, see ya tomorrow Winnie."

Arlenna waves goodbye, then the shuttle leaves for Arlenna's villa.

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11 Tribute**

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11 Tribute**

 **Calient Racha-Basco (40) - District 11 Escort**

"Needless to say, your mentor is knocked out once again," Calient tells both tributes matter-of-factly. "How's your day?"

"It was great!" Owen responds brightly. _For me at least. Mwahahaha!_

"It was fine," responds Poppy. _I guess._ She's still upset from Susie, but she's afraid to say so.

"Well, both of you get some rest. Your stylists will get us dinner. Tomorrow is gonna be a longer day, so rest well!"

"Okay," both tributes reply.

 **Ingeo Olefin (15) - District 8 Tribute**

 **Lainey Sash (18) - District 8 Tribute**

 ** **Svwyevwrierl Traversal (27) - District 8 Stylist****

 ** **Viktorio Antonio Mario Polyhaima (43) - District 8 Escort****

Lainey enters the District Eight villa to see her district partner, his stylist, and their escort in the living room. Both mentors are outside for some reason.

"What brings you here?" Vamp asks. "Do you have our dinner?"

Lainey stares into Vamp, confused.

"I'm kidding. Okay? I'm kidding." He looks down and adjusts his fake vampire teeth. "How's your day?"

 _Oh._ "Uh, it was okay."

"Any allies?"

"Nope."

"Your district partner got allies. If you need one, get at least one."

Lainey nods slowly, semi-agreeing. "Okay."

"Trav bought us ChitChat. It's in the fridge. You can thank him later."

Trav nervously waves to Lainey, and she waves back saying, "Thanks! I'll check it out."

Lainey goes to the fridge to find three boxes of the coated wafer snack. One box contains twelve packs, and each pack has four bars in it. There's chocolate, strawberry, and matcha ChitChat in the fridge. She's curious to try the matcha one, so she takes a pack and opens it. The four bars are stuck together with the coating. On top of each bar is the ChitChat logo. She takes a big bite on all four green bars simultaneously. _It's delicious! Why don't we have this in Eight?_

Vamp comes into the kitchen to see Lainey and her ChitChat.

"NOOOOO! THAT'S NOT HOW YOU EAT CHITCHAT!" Vamp holds onto his head looking stressed and devastated.

Lainey looks at Vamp questioningly, tilting her head. Vamp furiously takes a pack of chocolate ChitChat from the fridge. He snaps the wafer snack into four separate pieces before opening the pack. He takes out one bar and puts it into his mouth. "THAT is how you eat ChitChat."

 _Oh!_ Lainey realizes the difference.

"It's have a break, have a ChitChat; not have a bite, have a ChitChat!"

Lainey nods. "Okay." She looks at her bars in pity. "Sorry?"

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3**

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

 **Dorian Belcorn (18) - District 9**

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

Susie goes out of the training center to see the big alliance boarding the shuttle. She queues behind them.

Dorian notices her and tries not to look at her.

Once they're all seated, the shuttle leaves the training center.

"Hi, I'm Macy!" She lets out a hand. Susie stares at her in a frightened manner.

 _Kevin reappears to tell Susie, "Lol. Go say hi. She's too sweet. Just know you need to kill her if it's the final two! Mwahahahaha!"_

With Kevin's comment, Susie shivers and refuses to shake Macy's hand.

"It's okay," smiles Macy.

Susie just stares into Macy, not sure what she should do.

 **Kylie Ford (16) - District 6 Tribute**

Kylie leaves the trap-making station and thinks she can call it a day.

She goes out, rides the shuttle to her villa, and eventually arrives.

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6 Tribute**

 **Robert Royce (21) - District 6 Mentor**

 **Violet Aureon (70) - District 6 Mentor**

"Welcome back!" Violet says. "How's your day?"

"Fine enough."

"Did you make any new friends?"

Kylie shakes her head.

"It's okay. Come and join us for dinner. We have pie tonight!"

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12 Tribute**

 **Dante Blackwell (14) - District 12 Tribute**

 **Evezleya von Evezelle (48) - District 12 Escort**

 **Totochan Lierro (35) - District 12 Stylist**

At the dining area, the four of them are having fried chicken for dinner.

"So, how's your day?~" Sylvia asks in a semi-singsong tone.

"It was fun! I made a lot of new friends. Macy was the best," Corinna replies.

"How about you, Dante?"

"It was okay."

"Did you make any friends?"

"I... I don't think I need any."

"Oh. Well I guess that's fine."

Corinna asks, "Where is Larry and Anino?"

"Anino went home to his family today," replies Sylvia. "I remember him saying he needs to do his daughter's prom dress."

"Ooh! How many are they in the family?"

"He has one wife, one daughter, and one son. I haven't met them personally, but Anino showed me a picture of his family on his phone." _'Do you want to have a family someday?' would be an inappropriate question when the child is about to fight to her death. Hmmm..._

"What's it like being a parent?"

"I... I don't know, dear. I'm still single and childless. I could ask my siblings, but I haven't seen them in a long time."

"Where are your siblings?"

 _Oof. I shouldn't have turned the conversation to that direction._ "They're somewhere out there, far far away from here."

"Where and how far out there are they?"

"Someday, dear, you will know the world around you better." _I hope that's that._

Probably unsatisfied, Corinna nods after a long pause. She wonders about the world around her. She doesn't know so much about the world. All she knows is that Panem is one world, as it was taught in school. Then again, school info is biased.

 **Rufus Cornelii (12) - District 2**

"Tributes, the training center will be closing in ten minutes. Please be guided. Thank you."

Rufus rappels down the wall. Amillea says, "Good job, kid! What district are you from?"

"Two," he replies softly.

"Sorry, louder please?"

"Two."

"Oh! I wasn't expecting someone so young and so small coming from a career district. Did you volunteer?"

He nods.

"How?"

"By doing what I had to do." He smiles devilishly upon remembering how he burned the chosen volunteer.

Amillea tries to think how, but she just nods unsurely. "You're pretty cool and unorthodox for a career kid. You're part of the careers right?"

"Yes."

"Good luck kiddo! I'll be rooting for you." Amillea shakes hands with Rufus. After a minute or two, Rufus leaves the building and rides a shuttle back to the villa. As the shuttle leaves, he notices that a fellow tribute is with him. Said tribute waves to him, followed by a dab.

Rufus waves back to the kid from Seven. _He's probably harmless._

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District 7**

"I'm Orion, how are you?"

"Rufus, nice to meet you."

"You're the kid from Two, right?"

"Mmhm."

"What made you volunteer?"

"To represent my district."

Orion nods. "I see. Do you have allies?"

 _Aha! He's been looking for allies, and he couldn't jive with the boy from Ten._ He pretends to think, making a soft "Hmmm..." sound, followed by a slight smile saying, "I'm with the careers."

"Ah, I see." _Hmmm... I guess I'll look for allies tomorrow._

 _'Looking for allies?' Hue hue. Let's pretend not to let him know that._

Sooner than later, Orion arrives in his villa. He waves goodbye to Rufus then dabs. Rufus waves back.

 _Oh he won't expect so much from me. Mwehehehehehehe..._ Rufus rubs his hands as he watches Orion enter his villa. The shuttle moves again, and he gets back to his villa to rest too after a long day.

 **Annaleigh St. Cloud (17) - District 1**

 **Horden Tanase (17) - District 4**

They each do one last shot to the target, then they leave the archery station. They go out of the training center and see the lights being shut off inside. Trainers leave the building one by one. Some even have their own cars.

"Look who's here," says a familiarly saucy female voice.

They both turn around to see their allies.

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4**

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1**

"We must be the only ones around here," Argentum says.

"What time tomorrow?" Annaleigh asks Horden.

"Seven," Horden and Jeanne answer in unison.

 _Shut up janitor!_ Jeanne rolls her eyes. "Tomorrow is private training sign up day. Don't be late!"

"Oh yeah! What's our strategy, take the first six slots?" Argentum inputs.

"Should we separate from each other?" Annaleigh shares. "They will compare us from one another if we're too near with each other."

"Good point. If we spread away from each other, then we can all get high scores," concludes Jeanne. "Aha! I like your style, One."

"Glad you agree, Four."

After a while, an avox finally shows up to drive one of the shuttles. They are all driven back to their respective villas.

 **Magnette Quirlix (27) - District 5 Mentor**

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5 Tribute**

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5 Tribute**

 **Valtron Deja (42) - District 5 Stylist**

As Valtron comes back from some freelance work, he brings dinner to the villa.

"Yay dinner is here!" Maggie says.

Valtron takes out the food from the paper bags. "Tonight, we have burgers!"

"Ooh, exciting!" reacts Maggie. "Food is one of the few things I look forward to when I'm in the Capitol."

The four of them eat dinner together and have random small talk. The discussion then shifted to Caitlin's absence.

"Where's Caitlin?" asks Ciara.

"Oh, she's asleep in her room. She was doing some kind of alcohol drinking challenge with her fans earlier. Someone even delivered her here knocked out. Someone has a video of today's events, but I don't have a copy of it, hehe."

After some more time, Maggie remembers something and says, "Tomorrow is the private session sign up day! Don't forget to be there early. You want to be able to pick your slots. You should also discuss with your allies what time slots you should pick. The earlier you finish, the earlier you get rest. Some like it later though, but the gamemakers are usually tired by then."

"Wasn't there a time in which private training were by district?" Filly asks.

"Yeah, about that... I'm not sure what happened, but they changed it already for a long time."

 **Amaya Villanueva (56) - District 9 Mentor**

 **Alana Tapiocassava (20) - District 9 Mentor**

 **Charlie Kale (31) - District 9 Stylist**

 **Bonita Fern (20) - District 9 Stylist**

 **Dorian Belcorn (18) - District 9 Tribute**

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9 Tribute**

"They changed it during my time," Amaya tells everyone on the dinner table. "After the quell not to be spoken of, they changed a lot in the system. The training center was renovated. The private sessions are no longer done in district order. Escorts can pick their districts. Stylists get shuffled around, and making really offensive outfits can send stylists to jail."

"Wow. I probably wasn't born yet," remarks Alana.

"None of us were born yet actually, besides Amaya," Chay clarifies.

"A lot changed in the system we were used to," Amaya continues. "My stylist was told about the new stylist policies, yet she didn't follow and dress me up as a stalk of wheat. Next thing you know, she was avoxed after my victory."

"What..." Wide-eyed Dorian drops his spoon in surprise.

"It depends. A lot said my interview outfit was really bad too," Amaya continues. "As for escorts, they used to be assigned to certain districts, and then they can rank up or rank down depending on their secret escort rankings. Nowadays, if Anakyn Skyavich said he wants District One, and Tamara Etherson, former District One escort, agrees to switch districts with him, they do so. I think it was for two years when Anakyn was still with District Seven."

"Cool!" says Macy.

"The private training change was done after gamemakers were complaining that it gets bland towards the end. They wanna see careers here and there, and they want surprises. We weren't used to signing up for private session time slots, but I was glad I got the middle. The gamemakers usually get tired towards the end. I suggest not getting those unless you can impress them mightily."

"That's really cool stuff I never knew before," Bonita remarks.

"I have a question," Dorian starts.

"Go on," Amaya replies.

"What is this... 'quell not to be spoken of' you mentioned earlier?"

"Um... basically, the outcome is a mystery. The point of the Fourth Quarter Quell is to have the tributes go up and out there. The gamemakers were all with them, but the government couldn't communicate with them not long after. Signal was lost. Nobody knows what happened to the gamemakers and tributes. Nobody knows where they are. Nobody knows if they're somewhere out there or already dead. It is the quell not to be spoken of, because every district, including the Capitol, rioted during the 'conclusion' of those games. There was really no conclusion until President Osaka Mirage was assassinated. I'm talking from life experiences. I was sixteen when it was big news. History books don't have so much accurate info about these, because... it is the Forbidden Quell."

Silence... Silence... Silence... Nobody knew how to respond to something like that. Nobody asked too.

"Only the present matters," Amaya says, breaking the void. "Eat, eat! What were we talking about before that?"

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1 Tribute**

 ** **Annaleigh St. Cloud (17) - District 1 Tribute**  
**

 **Ace Starling (24) - District 1 Mentor**

"So, how's training?" Ace asks with a serious face. She and both her tributes are at the living room, as dinner isn't ready yet.

"We kept Four pretty close to us," says Annaleigh.

"Yeah," agrees Argentum.

"I hope you're ready for tomorrow," Ace replies. "It's the day you sign up for your private training time. You don't wanna be in the end unless you can give the gamemakers a really good show, and I mean, REALLY good show."

"Example of a really good show, please?" Annaleigh asks.

"You see, they don't just give twelves unless you're an all-around tribute. The games these days aren't the same as they were before the Fourth Quell. They give everybody a chance, and I don't like it because I'm mentoring alone this year!" She stares at them, probably even a glare at some point. "To answer your question, Miss St. Cloud, the girl from Two five years ago scored a twelve. How, you may ask, nobody knows. She wouldn't reveal the details when asked, because it's a 'private' session. Ugh! You can't get a twelve just from showing off your fighting skills. What you're showing has to be relevant to what will be in the arena, and it's unfair because you don't get to see the arena before the private sessions!"

"Tributes from One score high though," reacts Argentum.

"Eight and above, usually. Fighting skills get you a high score, but not a perfect one."

"What score did you get, and what did you do?" asks Annaleigh.

"My fighting skills, duh!? I'm a career! I only got a ten."

"And yet you won," Annaleigh tells her.

"Yeah, but for the record, I wish I had that twelve."

"What was your arena?" asks Argentum.

"It's an ice cream wonderland. It's not that exciting, but I won."

Concordia and Frank come out from the kitchen.

"Dinner's ready!" Concordia announces.

"Oh boy!" Argentum reacts.

* * *

At the gamemakers' headquarters, a guest arrives and is accommodated for his presentation.

"He is an archaeologist and a 3D modeler from the National Museum of Panem. Please welcome... Mister Arthur Histolion!" Genji moves to his nearby seat. Applause comes from the rest of the gamemakers.

"Thank you for the warm welcome, Genji." The silver-haired guy with golden beard and sideburns as well as a tanned skin is wearing an explorer outfit. He fixes his round eyeglasses as he continues, "As we all know, just like every year, we are here to talk about what we do every year at this time of the year."

"Ugh! This is repetitive," whispers Solomon to Alistair.

Alistair responds softly, "I know, but the interns need to hear it too you know."

"Every year since the end of the Fifth Quell, the National Museum sponsors treasured artifacts or replicas to the ever-loving Hunger Games. The reason? It's for tributes to find. It's like a side quest they don't know. We do it like how it's done every year. We donate to you the artifacts or replicas from places in the past, then you place them around the arena. When tributes find them, and it's not stolen from them by the time they're dead, their families receive money equivalent to the value of the artifacts they collected."

Some gamemakers are already asleep. The interns seem to be listening attentively though.

Arthur makes a hand motion that causes the slide to proceed to the next. "Here we have the 126th Games. We had chocolate porcelain for the Black Forest area of the arena." He points to the image below it. "This one is from the 127th. We have hidden ancient jewelry in some of the houses, correct?" He moves to the next slide and points at various images. "These are all prehistoric bones for the 128th. I know we had dinosaurs that time, but we gotta give them something to collect for fun." He sees someone raising a hand. "Yes?"

"How often do tributes collect these treasures?" asks Brenda.

"If it doesn't look obvious, they don't! Nobody took the prehistoric bones with them, but some fool from the 127th went house hopping and stole all the jewelry until he got killed by a career. The careers didn't steal from him though, so all that jewelry went back to us, and we gave his family the money."

"So it's like insurance?" asks Cress, the other intern.

"Yes. It is insurance, but only if the tribute has collected the treasure. Tributes don't know about this."

"Unless they read from the library," adds Lian.

"Ah, that I didn't know." Arthur continues to show pictures of treasures from past games. The 129th and 130th Games had crystals. The former had clear ones while the latter had colorful ones. Royce's games had robes and gold. Joan's had kidneys made of precious metals. "The 133rd Games was special. In each challenge, we hid a big gold coin optional for everyone to get. Some didn't know what value it had and ignored it. Some took more time and went for the challenge. The gold coin can give one an advantage on a later challenge if they decide to use it that way. If they die with it unused, then it's insurance." He continues to talk about Renz's games having coins, Alana's having a lot of lost treasure under the sea, Cyrus' having gold and porcelain, Woodrow's having edible and inedible golden berries, Karla's having coins and tokens, and Hazel's having various equipment.

"And now, for this year's hunger games, we have four areas, so four sets of treasures!" He moves to the next slide and says, "This is for Area One. It matches the tower in the area." Someone raises his hand. "Yes?"

"We call them sectors, not areas," says Vint with a smirk. "But you can call them whatever you want."

"Okay, no problem! For Sector Two, we have glass and crystals. It's like the castle, correct?" The attentive gamemakers nod. "Okay, this is for Sector Three. Definitely doesn't match the landmarks in the area, but precious metals need to be there for consistency. Last but not the least, we have porcelain for Sector Four. Liz told me she'll be using some of them." Alistair raises his hand. "Yes?"

"Speaking of Halizeia, have you received their requests for specially-made treasures?"

"Yes! they have all emailed me for one special treasure that they can take home after the games as a souvenir, and one special weapon they can leave for display or use for self-defense or in that emergency case in having to kill tributes."

"Good."

"That I guess is the end of it. Does anybody have any questions? Yes?"

"Where do we place them?" asks Axel.

"Dude we discussed this!" says Vint. "They all go in the mountain, and some of them are with the stunt people."

"Any more questions?" Arthur looks around and sees Brenda raising her hand. "Yes?"

"Where did you dig up some of the artifacts?"

"It's part of trade. Some of them were collected from the past, from other countries in the past."

After some time, there are no more questions. Most gamemakers go home. Some stay for their respective shifts.

* * *

 **History Grenadine (39) - District 7 Mentor**

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District 7 Tribute**

 **Latisha Morwan (29) - District 7 Stylist**

 **Vector Pen Umbra (30) - District 7 Stylist**

While Susie locked herself in a room with Woodrow, the rest of them have chicken with sauce, macaroni, and cream soup for dinner.

"So, did you make allies with anyone?" asks History.

Orion looks at his mentor, looks away, and looks back at History, followed by a head shake.

"It's okay. There's still tomorrow."

Orion looks back at his food and thinks, _How?_ "Most of them are already bundled up."

"Most, but not all. You got this!"

"She's right!" Latisha adds. "You got this!"

"Go get them!" Vector encourages.

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7 Tribute**

 **Woodrow Stirling (21) - District 7 Mentor**

"You can tell me all your problems," says Woodrow. "Don't worry, I won't bite."

 _"He won't, but I will!~" says Kevin in a singsong tone. "It's gonna hurt!"_

Susie shakes even more. She only stares at Woodrow, and Woodrow refuses to leave until she opens up.

 _I'm getting hungry,_ thinks Woodrow.

"B-B-" Susie starts. Woodrow's anticipation puts more pressure on her. "Bathroom." Susie unlocks the door and runs to the nearest bathroom. Woodrow sighs as he is left with no choice but to just leave her alone.

 **Joan Ho (26) - District 2 Mentor**

 **Cyrus Mackintosh (18) - District 2 Mentor**

 **Brenna O'Hare (18) - District 2 Tribute**

 **Rufus Cornelii (12) - District 2 Tribute**

Dinner is either silent or annoying.

"Crick, crick," says Cyrus softly as he imitates the cricket sound humorously.

As Joan eats, she watches Brenna and Rufus eating silently. No, they're not even communicating or anything.

"Crick, crick," repeats Cyrus.

"I can't stand it!" Joan complains. "Don't you two ever talk at least?"

Rufus and Brenna both stare at Joan.

"I'm not used to this!" Joan quickly finishes her soup then leaves.

"It's okay," Cyrus says. "Joan't freak out."

"SHUT UP! Nobody asked for your opinion, young man!" Joan yells from another room.

Cyrus faces both tributes. "Oh well, Cy." It is followed by a sigh.

They all go back to eating.

Once more, Cyrus softly says, "Crick, crick."

Leif storms into the villa. "People, I must announce to you my new baby!"

 **Leif Ray Khan (27) - District 2 Escort**

The three of them on the dining area look at Leif curiously. He brings a soft white furry creature about the size of his palm.

"Awww! Isn't that the cutest thing!" Cyrus reacts. He gets up from his seat and makes eye contact with the baby bunny.

"It is!" Leif pats the bunny softly. "I just passed by a pet store for the first time, and I saw this little cutie! She's staying with us tonight."

"What's the name?" Rufus asks.

"Oh, I haven't thought of that yet. How about Rainbow?" says Leif. "I like rainbows."

"That's a colorful name idea!" Cyrus responds.

Brenna rolls her eyes. She's never really had a pet to understand.

"Okay Rainbow, say hi to your new friends!" Leif just shows off his newly adopted pet bunny by holding her with his two hands. He then raises her higher without him noticing. "I'll just put her in my room. Cyrus, can you watch her while I'm gone?"

"Definite-Leif!"

"I'll just go buy some veggies for my new baby."

"It carrot wait to be fed!"

Brenna rolls her eyes. _Do I have to hear his lame jokes in every sentence?_

 **Abraham Braunock (44) - Dsitrct 10 Mentor**

 **Kylene Roa (25) - District 10 Mentor**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10 Tribute**

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10 Tribute**

"All I'm telling you is to be nice during training." Abraham sits on the sofa, stressed.

"I DON'T HAVE TO BE FUCKING NICE TO PEOPLE WHO WILL FUCKING KILL ME!" Kobe screams before leaving the living room.

"Hey!" Abraham gets up to follow him. "HEY! Come back here young man!"

Kylene shakes her head with a sigh, also stressed. Arlenna just sits behaved nearby.

"I'm glad I'm mentoring you. How's your day?"

"Pretty good."

"That's nice to hear." An awkward silence forces Kylene to improvise with another question. She thinks for a bit. "D-Did you make some friends?"

Arlenna thinks for a bit. "Only the girl from Five."

"I see. Did you ask her or did she ask you?"

"We just happened to be in the simulation room at the same time."

"That's... nice." _Gah! How do I keep the conversation rolling?_ "Where did you go during training."

"Um... it's called the tarmac."

 _What!? WHAT!?_ Kylene's eyes widened. "W-" _'Where is that?' - Seriously Ky?_ She clears her throat. "How did you find it?"

"It was in a book in the library."

"Mmhm... I see. Abraham knows much more about the tarmac."

Both girls can hear some loud cursing from one of the rooms.

 **Abraham Braunock (44) - Dsitrct 10 Mentor**

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10 Tribute**

"If you're gonna push everyone away, you're never gonna get allies." Abraham is still trying to help and convince Kobe.

"He pulled three pranks on me in ONE FUCKING DAY!"

"Then don't look for him! You can look for someone else, or you can even choose not to ally."

"But I need at least one companion!"

"Then don't push people away!"

"I DON'T FUCKING CARE! They're gonna fucking kill me!"

"Do you want an ally or not?"

"Yes, and no."

"What-"

"Okay, FINE! Fuck. I need an ally for protection, but I don't want any because they're gonna fucking kill me."

"Well... find your match, or you don't. It doesn't matter as long as you win, if you wanna win."

Kobe doesn't answer back this time, so Abraham leaves after a little bit. As Kobe is left alone in his room, he just lies down and stares at the ceiling. _Should I even get allies? I don't want the big groups. The other one is not even genuine. The girls from Six and Eight look like they'll kill me. I don't want anyone above fifteen years old. The kid from Twelve is always hiding. That leaves me and the boy who almost got me fucking killed!_ As he continues to think of his alliance options, he falls asleep in the process.

 **Abraham Braunock (44) - Dsitrct 10 Mentor**

 **Kylene Roa (25) - District 10 Mentor**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10 Tribute**

"Okay, what's this all about?" Abraham asks.

Arlenna stammers, "I... uh... I found the tarmac."

"Oh the tarmac! I've been there too, and we mentors can't really talk about it until it's discovered by the tributes themselves. Not even all mentors know about it. Am I right, Kylene?"

Kylene does not respond immediately. "Y-" She nods in agreement.

"Here's how it goes. Ever since the 104th Games, the tarmac has been present for training. The gamemakers made a tarmac to prepare the tributes for the actual arena that year. It was a pilot testing kind of thing. Tributes still trained in the training center, but Tammy somehow found the place. I don't know the details. The books don't tell them accurately as well. Anyway, Tammy Rubidium was this District Six tribute in the 104th Games, and she found the tarmac on the last day of training. By the time they were all sent to the arena, Tammy was prepared to find a way to take off, and she did with her ally or allies."

"It... it was a cool arena," Kylene adds.

"Yeah, they all start in a tarmac wearing pilot uniforms. There were weapons in the cornucopia, but everyone was positioned in a straight line in the middle of the tarmac. Everyone can either run away from the bloodbath, or take the opposite direction for supplies. Tammy knew better and ran to take a flight off."

"There were... I think six planes in the starting tarmac. The only people you'll ever see are those with you in the same plane. Those planes stop at certain airports to refuel or land."

"Oh, and the gamemakers got to hire pilots to do the flying. Also, Tiny Tammy is what people call her because she's so small you wouldn't even think she's twelve. Anyway, ever since that year, the gamemakers didn't know what else to do with the tarmac, so they placed stuff that hint to what may be encountered in the arena. Speaking of which, what did you see?"

Arlenna tries to remember what she did with Ciara earlier today. "There's a locks station."

Both mentors nod in interest.

"There's paragliding, and fishing, and canoeing."

"Expect there to be water in your arena," Abraham remarks. "Have you checked out the pool?"

Arlenna shakes her head.

"You totally should," Abraham responds. "They wouldn't add fishing and canoeing stations if there wouldn't be any water in the arena."

"Okay."

Kylene adds, "I'm thinking of the paragliding. What could it be?"

"It could mean something like those from the 85th Games."

"What about it?" asks Arlenna.

Abraham tells, "Well, the bloodbath twist was to jump off a plane and skydive. Normally, the sixty-second countdown before the bloodbath is to tell tributes to stay in their places. In the 85th Games, tributes have to jump off the plane with a parachute before time's up. I think two tributes' planes or drones were exploded by the gamemakers when they didn't jump off after sixty seconds, and one of them was supposed to be career."

 _Yikes!_ "I... I don't like heights."

"But there's a paragliding station, and it's different from skydiving," Kylene reminds.

"You're not wrong." Abraham thinks for a bit. "But the locks is another thing we have no idea of. I mean, they can use it to lock doors of indoor arenas, but why would there be a station dedicated to it?" As they all think in silence, Abraham breaks it by saying, "For now, make sure to visit the pool, because I'm a hundred percent sure you will see water in the arena."

 **Kylie Ford (16) - District 6 Tribute**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6 Tribute**

"Well, I'm glad to see you after so long." Thomas looks at Kylie straight in the eyes. It's not romance he knows, but it's a feeling of being glad to see someone after so long, still doing fine, even though it's not as fine as he expected. "Do you... do you wanna join our alliance?"

"Um..." _Shit. I don't know. I already turned him down once. Maybe I can turn him down again. I don't hate him. I just don't think he deserves me._ "Um... I don't know."

"Well, you don't have to if you don't want to. I'm just trying to offer some help."

 _Aren't big groups something careers are very wary about though?_ "Um... I'll think about it, but... uh..."

"It's okay. Just let me know when you wanna come with us." Thomas feels like he owes Kylie so much, but at the same time, she turned him down when he was inviting her to a new home. Thomas stands up to leave her room. "Good night!"

Kylie responds, "Good night."

 **Ezairlayne Aquaffee (54) - District 4 Escort**

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4 Tribute**

"He's just a JANITOR!"

Ezairlayne moves slightly closer. "There's nothing wrong with being a janitor."

"Says the person who lives in the Capitol."

"At least he's working."

"WHAT!? So what does it mean if let's say you're talking to someone like me, and I don't work."

"Darling-"

"UGH! I feel insulted now! You're offending me. Please get out!"

Ezairlayne respects her space and sighs. All she wanted to do was put peace between the district partners. She goes to another room.

 **Horden Tanase (17) - District 4 Tribute**

"Yes?" asks Horden.

"Hope I'm not disturbing you."

"No, not at all. What is this about?"

"I just wanna ask your opinion of your district partner."

"Ah, well, Jeanne is cocky. That's how she is."

"Do you hate her?"

"Well, hate is a strong word. I'm pretty sure there's something good in her even though she doesn't show me that. Everybody has a good side and a bad side. I just happen to be on her bad side, which makes me dislike her, but not necessarily hate her."

"I see..."

"She's just petty, and it's part of her upbringing. Normally, I would confront people for insults, but she's just too petty. It's easy to brush them away."

"Mmhm."

"Cocky people like her are doomed to fail. She may be the best eligible in the district, and that's probably a good thing about her. However, her cockiness is most likely her downfall. The careers aren't even a solid piece this year."

"It's rarely a solid piece these days."

"Yeah, but that's fine. Careers can still win."

"True."

They talk a bit more, until Horden feels tired from talking.

"Well, we still have training tomorrow. I better get some rest. You too."

"Awww... thanks for your time, darling."

"No problem!"

"Do you want me to turn off the lights for you?"

"Sure. Thank you."

"Of course. Good night, dear! Sweet dreams!"

"Good night!"

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3 Tribute**

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3 Tribute**

"Now I see why you were quite tired earlier," Tira remarks. "Okay, I think I can respectfully tell them that we will leave the alliance."

"Oh, no you can stay with them." Chip fixes his eyeglasses.

"No no, my job is to stay with my district partner, even though nobody told me." _He's just too pure for this cruelty! I can't let him go alone._

"Um... okay then."

"Was it the big crowd that made you tired?"

"Uh... part of it."

"What's the other part?"

"It's uh... it's because if you have a big alliance, you are more likely to be targeted by careers, so I'm trying to avoid being in a big crowd."

"Ah, I understand. I'll talk to them tomorrow, then maybe we could have a compromise. Okay?"

Chip nods.

"High five!" She raises her hand to his level, then they high five. "Fist bump!" They bump fists. "We should have a friendship handshake."

"I'm... tired."

"It's okay. We can do it tomorrow! Good night!"

"Good night."

Tira leaves Chip's room. She goes downstairs to her room, then she sees her stylist.

 **Anakyn Skyavich (34) - District 3 Stylist**

"How's your day Mister Skyavich?"

"I'm doing pretty alright. You can call me Anakyn."

"Ah yeah. I forgot."

"Just out of curiosity, what do you do in District Three?"

"Oh, I am an electrician."

"Interesting... I'm a part-time mechanic actually."

"That's cool! I mean, I've seen your works, I guess."

"Yes, yes. I did utilize some of my ideas as outfits."

"It's actually pretty cool!"

"Thanks. What did you do today during training?"

"We made shelters, built traps, listened to the trainers or doctors talk, climbed the wall, made friends."

"That's interesting. What kind of traps did you make?"

"I asked for indoor traps, so pranks?"

"I love playing pranks! You know, I've talked to some of the mentors around, and they want to play a prank of the District One mentor. You should join us if you can."

"Of course! I'd like to see a good indoor trap."

They talked some more, before Anakyn is fully aware of Tira still having to wake up early for the next day.

"Sure. Have a great night, Tira!"

"I will, Anakyn." She smiles to him before she closes the door of her room.

* * *

Isis is backstage checking Titan's biography, provided by her research team.

"Ready?" asks her assistant.

"Ready!" She prepares for the usual fancy intro to her late night show, then she makes her entrance as her name is announced. "Good midnight everyone!" The audience claps and cheers as she makes her way to her seat. Before she sits, she blows a few kisses. "Welcome to Isis' Midnight Show!" She sits properly and in a position she's comfortable with. "Recently engaged, our guest for today is a stuntman known for jumping off planes and skyscrapers. His father, grandfather, and great grandfather are very famous people. Let us please welcome Mister Tristan Smith, the Fourth!"

The crowd claps and cheers. Titan comes out from backstage wearing a bright blue tuxedo over a white polo with a red-and-blue-striped tie, dark blue men's leggings, and shiny teal and silver rubber shoes. He takes off his fedora and throws it to the crowd, to reveal his spiky dark blue hair, which he finger combs for charisma. Someone screams upon catching his fedora.

"Good midnight, Titan!"

"Good midnight to you too, Isis." The two shake hands. "I didn't think I'd be here tonight."

"Oh really?"

"Nah, I'm just kidding."

"Oh okay. I think you know what we're here to talk about."

"Of course!"

"So recently, you applied to be in this year's hunger games. Now tell me, what made you want to go for it?"

"Well, as a child, I love watching The Hunger Games. I told my parents that I want to volunteer one day and have some training."

"Like careers?"

"Yeah, like careers. They're pretty awesome, not because they hunt and kill, but because they can use weapons and become badass! Don't you agree?"

"We all love the careers! They give us a great show to watch sometimes."

"Yeah, there's been a dwindling performance among careers in the recent years."

"True. I guess tradition does not always stay from one generation to the next. We're not here to talk about careers though. We're here to know why else you applied for this life-or-death situation this year."

"Well, I am adventurous. I love exploring different things and try new things from time to time. But also, I want to discover these worlds for my own. The arenas are usually made by the gamemakers themselves, and being in their world, I just think it's a fun place to be."

"I see. Which arena is your favorite?"

"I love Zealandaise from the 110th! I know it was inspired after some ancient world with its mountains. It was even the shooting site for a fantasy movie series."

"Yes! You know that."

"I know that. I just love watching the stars in the night sky and the sunrise and the sunset in that arena. It was a pretty cool place I wish I got to step my foot on. How about you, Isis; what is your favorite arena?"

"Oh! I love Fantopia from the Fifth Quell. If only they didn't have children kill one another."

"Well, it was a quell."

"True. I think Fantopia was great because you start in a ball pit island, and when you get past that lake, there are rivers that lead you to cottages, villages, mansions, and more. It's like a fairy tale."

"It IS based off of fairy tales."

"True. I love fairy tales. Now, what do you think is this year's arena for you to explore?"

"Oh no. I'm not supposed to tell."

"Oh, so you know?"

"I do."

"Very well then. Can you give the audience a hint?"

"Well, I'll be enjoying myself there." Titan smiles with his teeth showing, not wanting to tell more.

"That sounds... exciting, for you!"

"It is! You know I always dream of flying."

"Tell me more about it."

"I love to fly! I always do. That feeling that you're off the ground, and you see everyone else below you so small and tiny, and they're just there. I wanna go up, and up, and away, to Reach For the Stars."

"Hehe. Nice reference to your movie there!"

"Hehe. A part of it was done with visual effects, but I still got to fly."

"You're quite successful for a nineteen-year-old you know."

"You too for a twenty-year-old." Titan says it with a wink.

"Haha! Congratulations about your engagement by the way!"

"Thanks!"

"Can you tell us more about your lovelife?"

"Oh sure. There was this one time when I was eleven, I was still into voice acting. I met Emilia's mom because she was also a voice actress whom I've worked with for most of my role in that film. She brought her daughter to the studio one day, and we played, like kids do. She's one of my closest friends, because I was homeschooled, so I don't get to meet a lot of people my age."

"I see."

"We hang out very often, until we agreed to take... the leap of faith. Now we're engaged, and we're expecting a baby." The crowd gives him a round of applause.

"My, my. Not all relationships last that long, if you ask me. Can you tell me your secret?"

"Well... you got to have respect and trust." The crowd gives him another round of applause. Someone even screams and cheers in excitement.

"You've got a very good point. Now there's one other thing that bothers me. Your mom had a meeting with the gamemakers that night, and she informed Alistair and the rest of the gamemaking team that she had no idea you were in a relationship, with Emilia, for six years now. What else with the baby? Can you tell us more about this?"

"Well, my mom might be watching this, haha!"

"Hahaha!"

"But... I don't know... with no offense to her, she keeps me locked up - no pun intended - and I thought I'm only seeing so little of the world. Like I said, I was homeschooled. I never told any of my family about my relationship with Emilia, because they freak out too quickly. They don't even want me to volunteer for the hunger games, if ever I were really eligible in a regular year."

"Mmhm."

"I wanna go out there and experience more. I mean, sure, I have a stunt job because of my family background, but if my family members weren't stuntmen in the past, I probably would've been banned from it too."

"I see. Thank you for sharing your story with us today!"

"Thank you for having me here too!"

"When we come back, we'll be having the CEO of the biggest Chinese food chain in Panem to talk about her success and plans in the near future. Stay tuned!"


	31. Training 2 (AM): Ideas, Plans, Strategie...

**Orion Fleming (15) - District 7 Tribute**

 **History Grenadine (39) - District 7 Mentor**

For breakfast, they both have fluffy pancakes. Orion taps on History's shoulder.

"Mmhm?"

"Did you have allies before?"

History swallows the pancake with milk, then clears her throat. "I did. I have the girl from Ten as my ally. Uh, someone... someone crushed her with one of the Stonehenge stones. Dunno if you know that, but that's a giant rock in a rock formation kinda landmark."

Orion thinks what he would do if his imaginary ally was in a situation like that. "How did you ask her?"

"Oh simple! Just go to the same station at some time. Show off your skills, and hope they show off theirs too, then you should be talking about your personal lives in no time!"

 _It's that easy!?_ Orion refuses to believe it! "Any other way?"

"Well, that was from my personal experience." History pours a little mango syrup on her pancake. "You can try being an extrovert. If you are one, getting an ally who will agree easily should not be a problem."

Orion stuffs the last piece of pancake slice into his mouth. He gives History a thumbs up and mouths a thank you somehow with his mouth full.

"Don't talk when your mouth is full!" History says as she stuffs a slice of pancake into her mouth too. "Gwud rwuck haubf fung with graining!"

Orion repeats, "Don't talk when your mouth is full." He dabs before leaving the villa and waiting for the shuttle.

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

As they ride the shuttle on the way to the training center, Filly remembers something he forgot to ask Ciara last night.

"Ciara, where did you go yesterday?"

"Oh?" _He found out huh._ "Oh. Well..."

"My allies and I realized we didn't see you or your ally."

"Arlenna. Yeah, we went to a hidden area of the training center." Although nervous, Ciara tells Filly the information since they've known each other from back home.

"Whoa! Where is that?"

"You have to find it." Ciara then puts her hand near Filly's ear to whisper. "It's in the library. Don't tell everyone."

Filly nods. "Okay."

"If your allies ask, just tell them..." Ciara pauses to think. She doesn't wanna lie, but she doesn't want to tell the whole truth. "Just tell them we went home early. Technically we did, since you saw me at the villa yesterday when you got in."

Filly nods once more. "Alright."

"I trust you. Don't spread about that secret area too much. Maybe your allies are okay finding out about it, but still don't tell them where Winnie and I went."

"Winnie?"

"Arlenna. She has two names."

"Like you?"

"Yeah."

They arrive at the training center and see a cluster of fellow tributes already there. When the clock reaches seven, the door opens. There's no queue or line, so the careers quickly dash to the signup board straight ahead. Well, the careers except District Two. The shuttle they're in is just arriving.

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1**

 **Annaleigh St. Cloud (17) - District 1**

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4**

 **Horden Tanase (17) - District 4**

Jeanne gets the pen first and writes her name and district on the topmost slot of the board. "Yes!" Jeanne gives the pen to Argentum. "Let's put some gap between our training times."

"I'll take... three o'clock." Argentum writes his name and district on that slot. He gives the pen to Annaleigh, who quickly decides with the 2:15 slot. She gives the pen to Horden, who then takes the 3:30 slot. Horden puts the pen back and the careers discuss today's plan at the lobby area.

 **Lainey Sash (18) - District 8**

Lainey takes the pen and picks a slot. She selects the 2:00 slot, not right after lunch yet not too late. She gives the pen to the next group, a pair of runners.

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10**

"My mentor told me to get an earlier time," Arlenna says.

"Yeah, my district partner's mentor told me the same thing." Ciara looks at the available slots. So far, only five slots have been taken, but everything past three-thirty is free. "No, that's too late." She looks at the 2:30 and 2:45 vacant slots, while also considering two of three vacant slots before 2:00. "Let's take these." Ciara points at the two.

Arlenna nods in agreement. "I guess it's not too early."

"I'll take the earlier one then." Ciara writes her name and district on the 1:30 slot. Arlenna takes the one after it.

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

 **Dorian Belcorn (18) - District 9**

Up next, Dorian takes the earliest available, which is the slot between Jeanne's and Ciara's.

"I don't know what to pick." Macy scratches her head.

"Just pick any, then I'll pick the one before or after yours," says Filly.

"Um, okay!" Macy picks a slot somewhere in between, but it slides a bit lower.

Filly takes the 4:30 slot, the slot before Macy's. Thomas receives the pen from Filly, and he writes his name and district on the 5:30 slot. He simply thinks it's a fitting choice for no reason.

"And now... we wait for our allies," Thomas says. He and his present alliance members move to the side, giving way for the next group, or rather individual.

 **Kylie Ford (18) - District 6**

"Hey Kylie! I didn't know you were behind us," says Thomas. "Do you want to pick the one before or after mine?"

 _Well, that time's pretty late._ "No thanks." Kylie takes the earliest available at this point, 2:30. She then moves away to start training.

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10**

Kobe takes the pen and selects the twelfth slot for himself. For him, taking the middle slot is the safest.

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District 7**

As Orion watches Kobe leave, he finds Kobe's name then writes his name and district after Kobe's.

 **Ingeo Olefin (15) - District 8**

None of his allies have shown up yet. He's indecisive with the slot he should pick. In panic, he selects the earliest available slot, 2:45.

 **Rufus Cornelii (12) - District 2**

 **Brenna O'Hare (18) - District 2**

They both look at the board, with slots mostly filled at this point.

Rufus asks softly, "Do you want the last slot?"

Brenna eyes on it, and so does Rufus. They're both up for the challenge, knowing that gamemakers would most likely be tired by then. They're both confident that they can awaken the gamemakers by showing them their skills.

Brenna replies, "I'll take last."

"I'll take the one an hour before it then," Rufus says, not wanting to be near Brenna's time in order to spread out the fun. It's also career strategy anyway. He scribbles his details hurriedly on the 5:45 slot. Brenna follows but for the 6:45 slot.

Not long after, a shuttle that carries five people arrives.

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3**

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11**

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11**

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

"Chip!" Tira snaps her fingers.

Corinna helps Tira get Chip's attention, then the three hurry to the signup board, aware of their tardiness.

"Hey!" Corinna calls the other four waiting.

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

 **Dorian Belcorn (18) - District 9**

"Hi!" says Macy aloud.

"Hello! Glad you made it." Filly waves to them.

"Good morning, fellas!" Thomas greets.

"You're late," Dorian states.

Thomas goes to Chip and Tira. "I left a gap for you two."

"Ooh thanks! Chip, pick first." Tira gives him the pen. "I'll take the other."

Chip takes 5:00 while Tira takes 5:15. Corinna occupies the slot before Filly's, at 4:15.

"Yay, we're all together!" Corinna high fives with everyone else in the alliance.

"Except me," Dorian says. "I wanna finish early." He points at his 1:15.

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11**

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11**

"There are only four slots left," Poppy worries.

Owen takes 6:00. "Take the one after mine. At least we'll be together."

"Um, okay." Poppy takes the 6:15 slot. After that, only 6:30 and 3:15 are vacant.

"Who else isn't here?"

 **Dante Blackwell (14) - District 12 Tribute**

 **Larry Rockenstein (37) - District 12 Mentor**

While Evezleya and Totochan are still asleep, the two have breakfast.

"Y-You know, you should be at the training center already," says Larry nervously.

Dante takes a sip of pineapple juice. "I don't want to crowd with them."

"Y-Your slot is being taken." He scratches one of his blue eyes.

"It's okay," Dante says it so softly Larry can only understand the slight nod from him.

 **Woodrow Stirling (21) - District 7 Mentor**

"Susie!" Woodrow knocks the door once more.

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7 Tribute**

 _Kevin says, "If we go in at nine-thirty, the slot there will be yours, nobody else's."_

Susie stares at the door emotionlessly. She can hear the helpless knocks and calls of her mentor, yet she just stares at the door, wide-eyed with no emotion. Deep inside, she thinks, _Just listen to Kevin, and nobody gets hurt._ After all, she really isn't motivated to train after yesterday's shenanigans.

* * *

In the camera room, Alistair says, "As we know, Celestina is taking a day off today for family-related matters. Therefore, you're in charge of today's cameras, Iota."

"Yes sir!"

"If you need help, just call in somebody who's not doing anything, or have an intern help you out. We know it gets boring watching the tributes train."

"Sure sir. What are the names of the interns?"

"Well, you know Brenda, the talkative one. There's also Cress, and we don't really know what to do with her since we haven't started with sponsor-related responsibilities."

"Okay, I'll have Cress switch with me every hour if that's okay."

"Sure, just make sure to guide her and check on her once in a while."

"Yes sir!"

"Let's check on everyone, shall we?"

With that, Alistair checks various screens to get this summary:

Annaleigh, Horden, Ciara, Arlenna - yoga  
Tira, Chip, Filly, Thomas, Macy, Corinna, Kylie, Lainey - ropes  
Owen, Poppy - wires  
Kobe - camouflage  
Rufus - traps  
Jeanne, Argentum - shuriken  
Brenna - at 6th floor using various weapons; Dorian spying nearby  
Ingeo - shelter  
Orion - poisons  
Dante - shuttle on the way to training center

* * *

 **Dante Blackwell (14) - District 12**

Despite being thirty minutes late, Dante still has two slots to pick from. He picks the earlier one so he can get some rest earlier than the other slot.

He goes to the library first. He doesn't feel like training right now. Besides, his strategy is to hide in quieter stations. Attention is the last thing he wants.

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3**

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

 **Kylie Ford (16) - District 6**

 **Lainey Sash (18) - District 8**

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9  
**

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

Most of the tributes at the rope station are helping one another how to escape a rope. Tira and Chip are working together. Thomas is assisting Filly and Kylie. Macy and Corinna are helping each other. Lainey is learning independently.

"Hi! I'm Macy." She lets a hand out.

Lainey notices this and lets her hand out too for a shake. "Lainey."

"This is my new friend Corinna!"

"Hi!" Corinna waves before letting her hand out for a shake as well.

"Do you wanna join us?" Macy asks.

 _Wow kid. That's a lot of you!_ "Um..." Lainey thinks for a bit. "Nah. No thanks. I can handle it well on my own."

"Are these muscles? Where did you get them?" Macy pokes on Lainey's small muscles curiously.

"Oh, I just..." _Train? Do I say I trained?_ "I just carry heavy stuff at home."

"Aha! What do your parents work as?"

"My mom's a dressmaker. My dad works at a silk factory."

"That's so cool!" Macy continues to chat with Lainey, until Lainey brings up the part that they are training.

After some time, somebody takes a break from his routine. He is then approached by one of his most recent allies.

 **Dorian Belcorn (18) - District 9**

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3**

"Hi Dorian! Can I talk to you for a sec?"

"Sure." They both go one level up, outside the clinic, where no one is around.

"Chip wanted to, uh... Chip doesn't want to be in a big pack."

"I see. No problem."

"And... I want to stay with him."

"So you're leaving too?"

Tira nodded nervously.

Dorian thinks, _They're harmless after all._ "Well, I suppose you don't have to come with us." There's a pause as Dorian thinks of another idea. "How about an agreement: We don't kill each other unless necessary."

"I-"

"Consider yourself still in the alliance. Alliances do not always have to be together. They can be separate with an agreement and a common goal."

 _Oh._ Tira's face brightens up slightly. "I guess that means we're still in an alliance."

"You got it."

They then shake hands.

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10**

The two runners return to the fifth floor for a morning jog, but it wasn't just a jog of course. The two are provided actual bicycles as they reach the next section, a candy-filled land during sunrise.

"Do you even know how to ride a bike?" Ciara asks.

"Of course, Gracie. What makes you think I don't."

"Well..." Ciara says nothing else while Arlenna is expecting an answer. They just ride their bikes to find the end of the candy land. _I can't say I underestimate her._

At the control room, Doctor Hologram says, "Let's throw in a gobstopper." Although nothing is actually thrown while both girls are riding bikes on the conveyor belts, a giant gobstopper rolls from behind them in their VR headsets. They hear a large grumbling sound and feel a slight earthquake.

"Uh, Winnie, what's happening?"

"There's..." Arlenna takes a quick look back. "There's a GIANT GOBSTOPPER ROLLING!"

"WHAT!? I don't bel-" Ciara looks behind quickly. "HOLY CRAP!"

As both girls go faster, Doctor Hologram is at the room watching them, entertained by his invention. "I LOVE THIS!"

 **Kylie Ford (16) - District 6**

At the edibles station, Kylie analyzes edible bugs. She switches between that and edible plants. Nearby, Annaleigh and Horden are at the shelter station, while Orion and Kobe are the cooking one.

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District 7**

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10**

Kobe glares at Orion when the former looks up. Orion just does his thing, trying to impress.

Jilin reminds, "Make sure you're not undercooking or overcooking your food. There won't be washrooms unless it's an indoor arena."

As they roast and roll the provided pork, Kobe looks up again, feeling disturbed at the presence of Orion. Orion looks up while he's doing the same, and he waves to Kobe nicely.

Kobe thinks, _Hmph... he better not pull another prank._ Kobe glares as Orion dabs. _What the hell._ Orion goes back to focus on his pork. Kobe goes back to his and away from the distraction, which is Orion's presence. _At least he seems genuine..._

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

After learning how to use a rope in various ways, the big alliance split to their sub-alliances, as they want to study their own things. Tira and Chip are at the camouflage station. Filly and Thomas are learning poisons. Dorian is roaming around observing others like usual. In Macy and Corinna's case, they are on the eighth floor studying how to use a spear. Corinna is eager to learn, but Macy is not as interested. All she's doing is bothering others, which can be both good and bad.

"Hi, I'm Macy!"

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4**

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1**

"Go away, twerp!" Jeanne says, annoyed.

"RAAAAAHHH!" Argentum tries to scare her off, and Macy squeaks.

"Babe, you're a bad actor."

"Nah, I just didn't put all my energy into it. I mean, look at her. She's harmless."

Macy waves to them in a friendly manner.

"Babe, we don't need her when we're trying to practice with the trident!"

"Yeah yeah. She's harmless, babe. What could possibly go wrong?"

Jeanne just rolls her eyes and continues training with her trident in hand.

"Purple is my favorite color," Macy tells Argentum.

"Yeah yeah. Purple is the color of your face."

"Really!?"

"When I choke you to death! HAHAHAHAHA!"

 **Rufus Cornelii (12) - District 2**

Nearby, Rufus is practicing how to use his sword. He's trying to ignore Macy, but she's just too loud. _If I only could, I'd shove this sword through her mouth, kebab style._

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10**

After their yoga and morning jog, they decide to check out the pool, upon the advice of Arlenna's district partner's mentor.

"Are there floaters here?" Ciara asks the trainer.

"Uh..." Coach Gen tries to remember. "I don't think so, but I'm here to help and teach you how to swim."

"Uh... okay," Ciara nervously replies. She starts twiddling her fingers.

"What's wrong?" Arlenna asks.

"I'm not drowning, right?"

"No?"

"Don't worry, kid. I'm a lifeguard. Any fear of water? Open water? Sea water? Deep sea?"

"Just drowning." Ciara says it so nervously yet quickly she sounds like she choked on her words.

"You're fine! I'm a lifeguard, and I can teach you how to swim, so don't worry too much. Look at your friend. She's a brave girl."

 _Excuse me!?_ Ciara does not like admitting it, but Arlenna is not showing any fear of water.

"You'll be fine," Arlenna says positively.

Ciara feels underestimated, by herself. She doesn't want to feel weaker and less dominant.

Coach Gen blows her whistle. "Let's start! First, let's do some stretching, so just follow me!"

 **Annaleigh St. Cloud (17) - District 1**

 **Horden Tanase (17) - District 4**

Gravity finishes his demonstration by throwing Density to the ground.

"See?" says Gravity. "Now do you two have experience with this?"

"As careers, we do, actually," Annaleigh says.

"We're not that good, however," Horden adds. "Where did you get that training?"

"Part of it is practice," answers Gravity.

"Part of it is career training," says Density with a smile as he gets up from the floor. "You know, there aren't a lot of trainers around the Capitol. Some Capitolites are decent, but a lot just fool around with fashion and entertainment. They're not fit and hunk like we are. It's rare to find a combative Capitolite. Am I right, or am I not wrong?"

"Density's got a point. Most of the trainers are imported from career districts. My brother and I are from One. If you've visited the pool, Coach Gen is from Four. I believe Thackery "Tha" Tau is from Two. Not everyone is from the career districts though. Doc Ishi from the lab is from Seven. Doc Hologram from the fifth floor is from Three."

"Wait wait." Horden brings up a point, "I don't understand how you are able to move districts. I think I never knew about the rule clearly."

Gravity responds, "Visa, and age. They don't approve just anyone to visit any district for vacation. Mostly, it's business- or work-related reasons that get you approved, but not everyone gets approved. You also need to be above reaping age to be approved, but there are special cases of kids getting moved to a different district, usually for familial reasons."

"I see." Annaleigh nods to it slightly. "If you said you're from One..."

"We're probably from another side. Who knows?" Gravity says.

"You know The Psi Dojo?" Density asks.

"Heard of it," Annaleigh says.

"That's ours." Density smiles brightly feeling cool.

"We plan to open branches around Panem if we get approved," adds Gravity.

"For now, it's just at one side of One. Oh, and we work here when it's this time of the year," Density continues.

"I see," both Horden and Annaleigh respond in unison.

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

Susie finally makes it to the training center. She sees the board and finds the second to the last slot blank.

 _"Perfect!" remarks Kevin. "Six-thirty is right before dinner. You don't have to worry immediately after lunch."_

Susie puts her name and district on the 6:30 PM slot. It is what's defaulted to her.

* * *

"Finally, she came!" Alistair says.

"I thought she was going AWOL," says Cress, the intern.

"We need someone to get the list, right?" Iota points out.

"Yes. Let's get Al, Cassine, or Morty to do that," Alistair says. "They're the internals."

Alistair gets Al to get the list from the training center, which isn't too far. After a couple of minutes, Al comes back with it and gets the gamemakers' attention.

"Everyone, we have the final list of the tributes' private sessions," Alistair announces.

The list is presented live as Morty inputs the information into the database. The list is as follows:

13:00-13:15 - Jeanne Maxima, District 4

13:15-13:30 - Dorian Belcorn, District 9

13:30-13:45 - Ciara Westley, District 5

13:45-14:00 - Arlenna Scott, District 10

14:00-14:15 - Lainey Sash, District 8

14:15-14:30 - Annaleigh St. Cloud, District 1

14:30-14:45 - Kylie Ford, District 6

14:45-15:00 - Ingeo Olefin, District 8

15:00-15:15 - Argentum Montgomery, District 1

15:15-15:30 - Dante Blackwell, District 12

15:30-15:45 - Horden Tanase, District 4

15:45-16:00 - Kobe Bridger, District 10

16:00-16:15 - Orion Fleming, District 7

16:15-16:30 - Corinna Pickett, District 12

16:30-16:45 - Filament Harmon-Fierro, District 5

16:45-17:00 - Macy Roe, District 9

17:00-17:15 - Chip Tablet, District 3

17:15-17:30 - Tira Hyde, District 3

17:30-17:45 - Thomas Barnaby, District 6

17:45-18:00 - Rufus Cornelii, District 2

18:00-18:15 - Owen Lee Bai, District 11

18:15-18:30 - Poppy Sennett, District 11

18:30-18:45 - Susie Ye, District 7

18:45-19:00 - Brenna O'Hare, District 2

"Tomorrow will be a long day. Please don't be late or absent. I'll make sure to have this relayed to the others later. Any comments on the list?" Alistair looks around and sees Toria raising her hand. "Yes?"

"Interesting to see both of Three and both of Eleven beside each other. Eleven is in its old time too."

"You're right," says Alistair. "That's interesting." Someone else raises a hand. "Yes Arc?"

"District Two is at the bottom."

"They want to impress us!" Alistair says. "They better not disappoint."

Nova raises her hand and points out, "There are six males and females on each half."

Other gamemakers count and notice that. Interested murmurs fill the room. Nobody else had comments to give or wanted to give comments, so the gamemakers go back to their work stations. Alistair follows Iota and Cress to the camera room to check back on the tributes. This is a summary of what they currently see:

Argentum, Jeanne - simulation room  
Horden, Annaleigh - fire  
Lainey - traps  
Kylie - edibles  
Kobe, Orion - cooking, moving to shelter  
Ingeo, Dante - library, both sleeping  
Filly, Thomas - poisons  
Tira, Chip - shurikens  
Dorian - whip  
Corinna, Macy - spear  
Rufus - sword  
Ciara, Arlenna - pool  
Poppy, Owen, Susie - ropes  
Brenna - 7th floor training with various weapons

Not long after, they notice Lainey leaving the traps station. She joins Horden and Annaleigh in the fire-making station, but she's minding her own business.

Cress asks, "Question, why are those two sleeping in the library?"

"Who knows? They're probably tired and didn't get enough sleep," Alistair responds.

Suddenly, from the monitors, both of them wake up startled.

"They're awake now. Did they hear us?" Cress panics.

Iota says, "Who are those...?" She points to the screen and sees four people. The librarian runs to them wildly. She's jumping in front of all of them as they watch her.

"That's the Guardians of the Pacific!" says Cress excitedly.

"Um... who?" Iota asks.

"It's a pop-rock band of siblings, Iota," Alistair says. "Well, the library is a public library, but I wonder why they visited."

The librarian is taking pictures with them and asking for their autographs.

"I don't know them," Iota says.

Cress explains it to Iota. "The one in yellow is Locarno. He's the lead singer and the electric guitarist. He's the second eldest and he's hot. The purple one is Lucerne. She's the drummer and second youngest. She's really cool! The red one is Lugano. He handles the keyboards usually, but sometimes he plays the bass guitar. He's the eldest and he does more to his music than play it with his siblings. The pink one is Lausanne, but she prefers being called Annie. She does vocals too sometimes, but if she's not singing, she's playing a ukulele or a flute. She's the youngest at thirteen! I think she's awesome."

"They sound like a very cool band," Iota says it slowly, semi-convinced.

Alistair points at the screen. "They just left the library." They see Dante going to the whip station, where Dorian is. Ingeo is looking for his allies until he finds them at the ropes station. What the gamemakers do not know is that the librarian screamed when she saw the pop-rock band. They did not think of unmuting the sounds on their end.

* * *

At the same meeting room as yesterday, the twenty-four stylists gather to discuss the arena outfit.

Deck says, "Ylvia and I will be here to take notes of the discussion and record anything important regarding the meeting. We will relay this to the head gamemaker and the internals of the gamemaking team. You may begin." Deck takes a seat.

Rogue asks, "Can anybody tell me who has the list of details regarding the arena?"

"I do," says Anakyn as he raises his hand. "I'll pass it around, then let's discuss from these given details." Anakyn passes the sheet of paper to his left, and it gets passed until everyone has seen and read the details. When it returns to Anakyn, he puts it on the Lazy Susan, in case anybody wants to double check.

Totochan raises one of her gloved hands first. "I think gloves would be useful in this arena." There comes a pause for her fellow stylists to think.

"What kind of gloves are you thinking of?" asks Mavine.

"I don't know. I just like gloves. Maybe those you can use on hot and cold objects."

"So like leather gloves?"

"Probably."

After that exchange, there was a short pause before Anino brings up another point. "I recently saw these super sturdy socks online. Not sure if any of you know it."

"I do!" Bonita raises her hand. "They're really cool. I've tried it, and they can really replace your shoes! It's like walking barefoot too."

Anino says, "I think we can use that for their footwear."

Rogue asks, "So we don't give them shoes anymore?"

"We can have a vote," suggests Anino. "But I think it's best we see or try the socks first before we make blinded judgment."

Bonita raises her hand. "How about headgear? Would they need any given the theme?"

Totochan adds, "I think we can give them a helmet!"

"How about a beanie?" asks Spring. "I think the tributes would need it more given the weather and climate changes."

"It's not always going to be cold though, and beanies wouldn't really work when it rains," Sophia points out.

"I was going to suggest a raincoat," says Belle. "But then again, it might not always rain."

"I think the beanies would be great to start with," says Ganymede. "They can just take it off when it becomes hot or when it rains, maybe."

"I guess we can list that as temporary too," says Valtron.

"I agree with Valtron," says Anino.

Gamemaker Ylvia goes out of the room to get something.

Concordia raises her hand. "Are we allowed to go for a shiny outfit?"

A short pause, before Valentine says, "There's really no rule saying we can't, but I'd prefer something simple but elegant."

Anakyn adds, "I'd like it to be utilitarian by design and function too. I was thinking of something practical and comfortable at the same time."

"Would spandex work?" asks Trav.

"Perhaps," answers Tasrita.

"I like the idea of going with a tightsuit, but something not too tight, you know," shares Valtron. "We can just give them a tight shirt and a tight pants, or leggings."

"Tight suit is okay," says Canvas. "But I thought we want to fit it with the theme like we usually do? I personally wanna use the theme colors mentioned in the list."

"I agree with Canvas," says Rogue. "I think it's best to match it with the theme, like we had a school uniform last year, mascots and cosplays the year before that, rashguards and swim pants on the 135th."

"But there are four parts to the theme," reasons out Valerie. "It's very hard to pick a common theme between the four. Don't you think?"

Ylvia comes back with a laptop. She connects it to the hologram to display what has been discussed so far, which include sturdy socks and a beanie.

Sophia raises her hand. "I think we can take advantage of the mountain. If they'll be starting at high altitude, might as well give them something warm, assuming the gamemakers have wind on."

"If it's a mountain, we might as well give them a coat over their jacket, over their shirt," suggests DeeDee.

"Wait, is there snow on the mountain?" asks Sophia.

Deck shakes his head. "Nope, no snow."

"Then maybe a jacket over their shirt will be enough?" suggest Belle.

"Probably," says Anino. "I think we'll have that tentatively, unless somebody objects."

Nobody does, so Anakyn brings up something else. "Has anyone tried putting the tracker in an arena outfit?"

"What if they take it off?" points out Latisha.

"Well, I was thinking of an outfit that registers their district, rank, and status while they are wearing their outfits. I'm honestly not sure what will happen if they take it off, but I'd like to think that if they changed their outfits, we could still track them."

"The peacekeepers no longer record teenagers' bloods during the reapings," says Belvedere. "But maybe there is a smart way to keep track of it. I think Anakyn's idea is genius."

There was no discussion for a while. Deck and Ylvia are just keeping track of the meeting's discussions.

Canvas raises his hand. "If we find a way to make smart shirts like that, would is be possible to make smart shirts wherein the colors change, based on the sector's theme colors." His fellow stylists start thinking.

Valtron says, "I think it's possible, but we'll see. If not, then I guess we'll just have multiple versions of the attire, with only the colors changing."

Belvedere raises his hand. "Will the outfit be gender-neutral?"

"I think so," responds Anino. "Looks like we don't have separate outfit for boys and girls."

The hologram displays the tentative arena outfit the tributes will be wearing. The stylists asks more questions and clarifications. More notes are added. At some point, nobody objects with the displayed outfit. That's when the meeting is concluded.

* * *

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1**

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4**

Argentum really wants to practice throwing knives. Jeanne tried convincing him otherwise, but it was not successful. Now, they are at the throwing knives station training.

"Check this out," says Argentum before throwing a knife and hitting the bullseye.

Jeanne claps. "That's great, babe!" Jeanne knows how to use throwing knives. In fact, she's proficient with range weapons she's trained with at home. There's just one issue: She does not want to show her throwing knives skills at all. It's a strategy. If she wants to defeat a career, and if they even reach that point of betraying one another, she wants to have a weapon they are not aware she's proficient in. She refuses to touch the throwing knives as much as she wants to. It's more important that her strategy will not be destroyed simply because Argentum wants to practice throwing knives.

"Don't you wanna try?"

"I'll pass."

Argentum throws two knives into the bullseye again.

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3**

"That was awesome!" Tira cheers.

Argentum and Jeanne look at her direction.

"No sarcasm. You did really well," says Tira. After all, it's a strategy for her to get on the careers' good sides without being fake.

Argentum tries to scare her off. "RAAAAAHHH!"

Jeanne rolls her eyes. _If he becomes the victor, I just hope he learns how to act better._

Tira moves closer to them. "Tira, District Three." She lets out a hand.

"You remind me of that kid from Nine," Argentum says, his smug slowly fading into a frown, an annoyed one.

 _If I were Macy, what would I say?_ "Oh, Macy? She's bubbly, very bubbly."

"Yeah, the little girl."

"Well, it's cool that you met her like I did."

 _No it's not!_ Argentum just nods slowly. "She's a little too loud sometimes."

"I think you'll get used to it." Tira smiles. Although she already brought down her hand since Argentum never shook it earlier, she raises another hand for a high five. "High five!"

Argentum does it, although not as enthusiastically as he usually would.

"You too girl!"

"It's Jeanne!" She high fives with Tira anyway.

"See you around!" Tira returns to the learning how to use a chakram with Chip. She returns to see him with his head in the clouds, as expected. She wants to try and learn new things, which is why she's been playing with the shurikens and chakrams this morning.

"How did it go, Chip?" She snaps her fingers in front of Chip. "Chip. Chip."

Chip looks up to see Tira return from her conversation with the two careers. "I think checking the edibles section will give us a better chance of survival."

"Let's check it out after this then!"

They finish learning how to use chakrams. It's helpful to Chip that he has experience with the simulations he's worked with, so he knows edible and inedible food would be useful to learn. What he doesn't know is that the food around the arena this year are almost all edible. Still, he's not wrong about learning edibles giving them a higher chance of survival.

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10**

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District 7**

 _History was right! All I had to do was stick with him, and now we're working together. Well, he was reluctant at first, but shelters are better done together after all. It's good experience working with Kobe so far, and I hope we watch each other's backs in the arena._

The two are almost done building their shelter.

"I'll fix the inside. You'll fix the outside," says Kobe.

"Okay." Orion checks the outside.

Kobe checks if the insides of the tents are okay. _I guess it's good to have an ally like Orion. Maybe it's better than having no allies. He's mischievous sometimes, but at least he's genuine. He's better than that Eleven kid who tried to ask me. His smile was obviously fake! I don't understand how he even got allies._

Kobe's mind wanders off sometimes. After some time, he thinks it's good in the inside! He makes his way to the tent's exit, but then he realizes that somebody pinned it from the outside.

"FUCK! FUCK! GET ME OUTTA HERE! LET ME OUT YOU SHIT! LEMME OUT!"

Outside the tent, Orion is trying to hold his laughter and the trainer is giggling nervously. She gave Orion the safety pins after all. Orion realizes that having an ally is fun, but having an ally he can prank is even better.

 **Lainey Sash (18) - District 8**

 **Kylie Ford (16) - District 6**

While Lainey is at the cooking station and Kylie is at the fire station, both being guided by the same trainer, they all watch Kobe screaming from nearby.

"LEMME OUTTA HERE!"

"Okay," says Jilin, turning back to Kylie and Lainey. "Going back to Kylie, I'll demonstrate to you once again how to produce fire out of two rocks." She rubs two rocks with speed until a black spot on the patch below them appears. "Now to Lainey. As I was saying earlier, you don't want your meet overcooked or undercooked, for obvious reasons." She explains some more then leaves Lainey with a pork on a stick and the fire she made earlier before moving to the cooking station.

The trainer leaves for a while. Lainey finds it boring to cook the meat, but she has to try it out to learn it. She watches Kylie learning how to make fire. She knows Kylie is doing something wrong but doesn't say anything. She also tried to start her fire earlier, and it wasn't easy. Her meat-cooking is her current priority. She notices something so far with today. _Either she's following me, or we've just been going to almost the same stations coincidentally._

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

At the yoga room, the two simply follow Purisimus Prism's instructions. At some point, they both look into each other's eyes, as they are seated right in front of each other, but with a gap of course. They look into each other, deeply.

Filly's heart is pounding. _Maybe it's just because we've bonded so much over the past twenty-something hours._ Filly realizes his attachment to Thomas. _What if he dies before I do? What if I win and he doesn't?_

Thomas remembers that this is one of his life few days in life. He wants to go out with a bang. To do that, he volunteers for the games instead of staying in the community home. It's a decision he doesn't regret. He wants to try so many more things, but time does not permit it. _I wonder what it feels like to kiss a girl, or a boy. What if I never try it?_ He's still looking into Filly, thinking where he'll be going if he dies first, like what he's expecting. _But what if he does first? What if..._

"Alright!" says Pure, the bald yoga trainer. "Next up, I want both of you to lie down."

 **Rufus Cornelii (12) - District 2**

At the library, he's reading up on past games and how the victors won. He's absorbed a lot of information so far, but there's not one pattern into winning. In some cases, the arena factors into how quick a career is eliminated. In some cases, career alliances are not cooperative to stick until the end. _It's not an alliance if it doesn't stick together. It's a train wreck._ He then remembers the train wreck named Diamond. His head got sliced off by a train in the bloodbath, literally. What did he do to get him to end that quickly? Rufus doesn't really know. Maybe Renz saw a threat in him. Maybe they had an argument during training. Most things that happen before the bloodbath are things he won't know, because they are not recorded in books. Heck, he's not even sure if he trusts the books. He remembers watching Mon's head getting sliced off by Renz taking advantage of the arena twist.

Rufus gets up to return the book. He then finds a different book about past arenas and how tributes were able to use the arena to their advantage. Back during the Snow dynasty, the use of arena elements is frowned upon. Gamemakers or tributes are punished when tributes are too smart to use the arena to their advantage. Now, it's free for all. Neither gamemakers nor tributes get in trouble for using something like a train to slice off a career's head. This can be for better or for worse.

Meanwhile nearby, although Rufus doesn't notice, Macy and Corinna are looking for books around the library too. They don't notice Rufus too.

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

"Miss Amaya was talking to us about this last night at the dinner table!" Macy takes out a book titled 'The Hunger Games: Centennial.' Macy may have been forgetting that books do not always contain accurate information.

"Ooh!" Corinna says. "Let's read it." They find a table and leaf through a few pages. They find the ones with pictures in them.

"So that's President Mirage." Macy points at the picture on the book.

 **Annaleigh St. Cloud (17) - District 1**

 **Horden Tanase (17) - District 4**

They have been practicing the trident together. It's a popular weapon in District Four after Finnick Odair made it famous. For the past several minutes, Horden has been teaching Annaleigh how to use the trident. The trainer, Manu Malo - as they learned earlier, has been asleep for almost an hour now. Some trainers get bored when careers are just polishing their skills in the weapons they're already familiar with.

Annaleigh says, "Let's check the endurance rooms this time."

"Sure! I'm curious if there will be hot and cold areas in the arena."

"Well, we'll never know until we see the arena."

"True."

They both leave the trident station after putting their tridents back.

"Do you like heights?" asks Annaleigh.

"No."

"Same."

 **Brenna O'Hare (18) - District 2**

Brenna watches her allies leave the trident station. She continues practicing with the sickle. A few moments later, she switches it with the staff. She turns to the dummy and beats it with a staff in many ways. She already knows what she's doing. All she's really doing at this point since yesterday is to polish her skills. _Practice makes perfect._ She's going through the stations she's been to yesterday.

She's also excited for private training tomorrow. Picking the last slot is a risk, but it's meant to impress the gamemakers. She likes to think she's the best, and she's saving the best for last. Well, she doesn't want to say she's the best, but she'd like to think that way. It's not overconfidence, but simply ego. She's been training even at such a young age. Who knew losing her parents from a rebel attack would get her this far? She remembers that they were kind and loving, but they've been gone for so long. They were gone since she was Four, and her parents were just doing their jobs on a regular day in District Eleven, as peacekeepers. Her parents don't matter anymore. They never did in her journey. She's getting closer to the end of her road of success. Just a little more practice here and there, and soon, the crown will be on top of her head.

 _Brenna O'Hare, Victor of the 140th Hunger Games. Oh how sweet the sound!_

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11**

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11**

 **Ingeo Olefin (15) - District 8**

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

(Trigger warning on this section: Noose)

As they experiment on ropes or thinki how they can escape a rope trap, Susie looks at the noose she made.

 _Kevin says, "It's a masterpiece! I'd give it an award if I were an art critic."_

Susie looks into it, into its hole. There's something unsettling about it, yet she finds it interesting.

Ingeo looks to Susie's direction and asks, "Are you o-" Ingeo's jaw drops upon seeing what Susie made.

"What happened?" Owen sees it too. _Shit._ With that, Owen freezes too.

"I can help you put it away," says Ivory, the ropes trainer.

 _"Put it on her neck, like a necklace," says Kevin menacingly._

"It's a gift," Susie says softly as she tries putting it on her neck.

Ivory is smarter and faster though. "Thanks, but I guess I'll put it elsewhere for now. I don't want to wear something dangling while training." Ivory smiles brightly. _But shit, this is dangerous. She should go see a doctor._

Poppy then turns to her allies. "What happened?"

"Susie just got distracted is all," lies Owen.

"Y-Yeah," agrees Ingeo reluctantly. _It's better that she doesn't know. That was scary._

 _Kevin commands, "Now, try tying your rope on Poppy's neck. I'm pretty sure she wants a necklace." Kevin says the last sentence in a singsong tone, excited to see what's about to unfold._

Susie gets another rope and sees all three of her allies minding their own businesses. Susie finds the perfect angle for her to 'give the necklace' to Poppy. She slowly approaches her, then from the back, she puts the rope on Poppy's neck.

"AAAAAHHH!" Poppy screams in panic.

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10**

 _Oh shit._ Kobe sees it first from the wires station.

He and Orion decided to go to separate stations they want to go to. In Orion's case, he is at the spears station.

Kobe watches and hears Owen saying, "Oh no!"

 _Fake._

"Susie, are you helping Poppy learn how to escape the rope?" Owen continues.

Kobe clenches his fist. _Why would he do this!?_ Kobe can only be glad right now that he made the right decision not sticking with him.

"Y-Yes," Susie nervously responds.

"NO SHE'S NOT!" Poppy screams.

Ingeo watches silently, not knowing what to do. _I can't help. I don't know!_ His heart is beating fast, with so much concern and fear.

Susie doesn't tighten the grip after all, so Poppy made a quick escape from the rope.

"See? Nothing bad," Owen says, then he smiles brightly like it's just that.

Kobe glares to Owen's direction, but the latter doesn't notice this. _Fake fuck._

 **Dante Blackwell (14) - District 12**

He's been practicing with 'weird' weapons since ten o'clock. First he was playing with the whip, then with nunchuks. Now on his hand is a claw.

Leilah takes the claw from him then demonstrates how to use it.

 _It's simple and obvious, I guess._ Dante receives the claw from Leilah after the demonstration. he then tries it on a dummy. _It's fun._ He tries it once more, and again, and again. Although it may be addicting, he's not really into killing others. If he can hide all he wants until the end and make it out alive, he would do it. For now, a quiet station with a mute trainer is the best for the day. After all, nobody else was there earlier today aside from the roaming Nine boy. Also, it's technically his first station visited for today.

Dante still keeps scratching the dummy. it gets addicting, but he really hopes he doesn't have to come to killing anybody, even if it's with a cool weapon like a claw.

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

At the end of flipping through several pages of the book, they've learned, based on the pictures, that the 100th Hunger Games ended with an explosion in the arena during the bloodbath.

"Awww, everybody died!?" Corinna reacts.

"That's so sad," Macy says. "All the tributes... all the gamemakers... the poor president..."

A lot of details were documented to be in the book after all. It's a book with bias though. Macy and Corinna are just too naive for it.

 **Dorian Belcorn (18) - District 9**

After some observations, he decides to visit the library earlier than he expects to.

"Hello there."

Dorian looks up to see a familiar face in an aqua blue blouse and skirt.

 **Ezairlayne Aquaffee (54) - District 4 Escort**

"What are you looking for?" asks the escort with wavy and aqua blue hair shaped like strands of seaweeds.

"Uh... nothing really. Just finding anything interesting around here."

"Oh?" She blinks her glittering metal blue eyelashes and takes out a small book from the shelf. "If I were you, I'd read this. Don't ignore the vandalisms inside. It was once owned by a conspiracy theorist." Ezairlayne lies for good intentions. She then moves to another section of the library.

Dorian checks the book curiously. it is true that there are lots of vandalism all over the book, but there is an interesting information he sees. Dorian squints at it curiously. He then realizes that tributes are being called for lunch.

Dorian assumes, _Well, I might have struck gold._

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10**

Ciara was training with a dagger, and Arlenna was training with a knife. They were on the same room being guided by the same trainer. Now, they jog their way down to the cafeteria. Ciara is still salty about Arlenna being called brave by Coach Gen, just because Ciara has a fear of drowning. She looks at Arlenna's hip-length straight brown hair.

 _I have an idea,_ thinks Ciara determinedly.

Arlenna then faces forward to ask, "When should we go back 'there?'"

"Hmmm... tomorrow. Let's go through the local training stations first, because they're essential," responds Ciara.

"Yeah, good idea," agrees Arlenna.

* * *

Cress comes out of the monitoring room with a list. Alistair receives it from her.

"Interesting," Alistair comments upon seeing the updated list of alliances.

Alliances:

Careers - Argentum, Annaleigh, Brenna, Rufus, Jeanne, Horden

A Happy Family - Dorian, Thomas, Filly, Macy, Corinna, Tira, Chip

Track Stars - Ciara, Arlenna

Somewhat Destructive but Okay - Susie, Owen, Poppy, Ingeo

Sweet and Sour - Orion, Kobe

Loners:

Kylie

Lainey

Dante

* * *

AN:

Plan is to update weekly around this time until further notice. I'm on a roll! :3

For any requests or predictions, please leave them in the reviews along with your thoughts from the chapter. :) I enjoy reading predictions especially!

We'll get to read from the stunt people next chapter, for more behind the scenes. I love writing about behind the scenes!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :D


	32. Training 2 (PM): Home

AN: Last chapter during the stylist meeting, I meant to say beanie instead of bonnet. I've edited the chapter accordingly. (Why do I even call a beanie a bonnet?)

Anyway, enjoy the chapter! :)

* * *

The one-hour lunch break has just ended. Alistair looks at the monitors to see where the tributes are and what they are working on currently.

Dante - simulation room  
Ciara, Kylie, Lainey, Arlenna - medical seminar  
Owen, Poppy - throwing knives  
Tira, Chip - fire  
Filly, Thomas - cooking  
Rufus - edibles  
Brenna - trident  
Macy, Corinna - knife  
Ingeo - sword  
Susie - axe  
Kobe - wire  
Orion - spear  
Argentum, Jeanne - warhammer  
Annaleigh, Horden - cold endurance  
Dorian - shuttle to tarmac

"He found it too," says Alistair, semi-impressed and semi-disappointed. Had Dorian been the first one, Alistair would have been impressed like yesterday. _How could someone find it again? This is very suspicious._ "Iota, can you roll back to Dorian today?"

Iota rewinds several tapes to find the one that shows evidence of Dorian finding out about the tarmac.

"Wow, that's complicated," Cress comments.

"It is very suspicious, but there's also a good chance Dorian found out about it all by himself. Call me back when it's ready."

As Alistair exits the room, she finds a shiny lavender-haired girl with thick glittering mauve makeup all over her face. She plays with her aesthetically curled shoulder-length hair until she sees Alistair.

Cassine says, "Sir, this is the guest..."

"Hi Alistair! Long time no see!" She takes Alistair's hand and shakes it. The startled Alistair just looks at the guest. Once the guest stops the shaking, she kisses the hand she just shook, and screams slightly. "EEEEK! I'm so excited to meet you again!" She then hugs Alistair. He has no comment of the unexpected situation. "MASTER NIC! MASTER NIC!" She screams from the top of her lungs.

The seasoned guest gamemaker looks around to see his former intern. She runs to him for a tight hug. Niccolo is not given time to prepare, so he receives a squash - or hug from the guest's perspective - from the guest.

"Um... you know her?" asks Cassine.

"She was our intern during the 127th." He then softens his voice. "She's like Brenda, but Brenda is more tolerable."

"So what are we gonna do with her?"

"We need to wait for the stunt people for her to be useful. Right now, she should... just wait."

* * *

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1**

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4**

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

While Susie is minding her own business with an axe and Corinna is learning how to use a regular knife, Macy is at the warhammer station doing what she usually does.

"RAAAAAHHH!" Argentum says louder.

"This is so embarrassing," Jeanne says. "I don't know you." She then faces Macy. "I don't know him. Okay!?" Jeanne hits the dummy with a warhammer repeatedly.

"Kid, go away," Argentum says, motioning his hands in shooing her away. "We don't..."

"What did you have for lunch? I like the vegetables the best. They're actually more delicious than they are at home! Did you try the vegetables?"

"No. Okay, now go away and get lost."

"But what was your favorite from today's lunch?"

Argentum sighs loudly then lies, "The vegetables."

"Oh my gosh!" Macy shrieks. "Did you know, they were my favorite too?"

"Your friend is calling you."

Macy turns around to see Corinna turning her head to their direction. While that happens, Argentum sticks with Jeanne, chatting with her instead. Macy goes to Corinna. The trainer points at where it's best to stab the dummy with a knife.

"Now go ahead and try it."

Corinna does so.

"How about you Macy? You should give it a try."

"Okay!" Macy goes to the dummy with a knife in hand. She plays it curiously, and before she stabs the dummy, she cuts herself. She feels a tingling pain, then sees the blood in her hand. She drops the knife and it feels like the world around her is becoming too much for her to take in. The overwhelming feeling swallows her fully.

"Macy?" asks Corinna. She then repeats in a singsong tone, "Oh Macy?"

Before anyone in the room can be alerted of what's about to happen, Macy screams from the top of her lungs. The sharp and shrill sound forces Corinna and Cholrus the knife trainer to cover their ears. Susie at the axe station ducks in panic as if she's in an earthquake. Jeanne and Argentum stop their warhammer training to cover their ears too. Annaleigh and Horden are at the stairs area approaching the level, but they cover their eyes and stop shortly, before climbing the stairs further to see what is happening.

Macy looks at the cut in her hand and begins to sob loudly, then cry, cry so loud it would have scared all the scarecrows and shattered all kinds of glass in the entire nation. She falls to the ground but continues crying, probably wailing at this point. Cholrus calls for emergency, while Corinna endures the sharp ringing sound she's hearing.

"Macy!" calls Corinna.

And yet it doesn't stop. Macy looks at the blood dripping slowly from the small cut on her hand. Her heart is beating fast and her hand is obviously shaking as she stares at it. She's feeling pale, extremely pale. She doesn't know if she looks pale, but she's shaking, enough to convince her that she feels very pale inside.

Not long after, a couple of trainers carry her to the elevator. Corinna follows them as they all go to the twelfth floor, where the clinic is.

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11**

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11**

"Did somebody just die?" asks Owen.

Poppy shrugs. Both of them have been training at the throwing knives station after they've both shown interest to it. The station is one level above the knives station.

 **Lainey Sash (18) - District 8**

 **Kylie Ford (16) - District 6**

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10**

"And that is how you clean..." Doctor Ishi is interrupted by a shrill sound.

The four girls also turn to the direction of the noise. They see the twelve-year-old girl from Nine being carried into the clinic. Her ally is behind the trainers carrying the girl.

"Hold on just a moment." Doctor Ishi rushed to the room the girl was just brought in. After a minute, she returns saying, "Someone else will deal with her. Poor kid accidentally cut herself while training, and she might have crippling fear of blood. Anyway, let's go back to cleaning a wound."

 **Dorian Belcorn (18) - District 9**

A hidden area is one of the last things he expected from training. Little did he know that the escort was directly helping him about the secret tarmac. He arrived a few minutes ago, and now he's learning how to build a raft. When he studied his surroundings, he realized that the tarmac is not a place set up randomly. It has weird stations that may hint what the arena may have.

Echo Eclipse says, "Make sure your wooden raft is stable. You don't want the pieces to separate while on a body of water."

Dorian nods. _Hmmm... a wooden raft would be unlikely for an ocean or sea arena. Maybe the arena will have a river, or a lake, or a lagoon._

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3**

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

After learning how to cook properly or make fire, both pairs decide to visit the simulation room on the fifth floor.

"What is your idea of a simulation?" asks Tira to Chip as they all reach the entrance.

"We know what might be in the arena if we try it," Chip responds, faster than usual due to interest.

"Okay, let's find out!" says Filly determinedly.

As they enter, they see the boy from Twelve exit.

"Welcome to the simulation room!"

"I have a quick question," Tira raises.

"Go on."

"What is in the simulation room?"

"Ah, we give you these virtual reality headsets, then you get to test your skills based on the tracks or courses. We focus on agility, stamina, stealth, and navigation. Wanna give it a try?"

The simulation room may not be what Chip expected, but it still sounds like something that would increase his chances. _That means I will know my speed and energy, how fast I'll be able to run from careers, how fast I'll be able to run from mutts, how much energy I have to keep running. Stealth, so that means how good am I in hiding without camouflage. Navigation would be very useful in-_

Tira is already snapping her fingers in front of Chip. "Chip! Chip, we're all going to try this. Are you in?"

Chip nods in response.

"Bring it on!" Thomas exclaims.

 **Annaleigh St. Cloud (17) - District 1**

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1**

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4**

 **Horden Tanase (17) - District 4**

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

Both career pairs are polishing their skills on maces. They've been whacking dummy after dummy. Susie is sitting at the background staring at the four of them blankly.

"Copycat," says Annaleigh.

"Says who?" counters Jeanne.

"Says the janitor," responds Horden. He then winks to Annaleigh.

Jeanne glares at them.

Argentum says, "Does it matter? We already know how to mace." He drops his mace and watches the other three whack more dummies. He turns to one direction and notices Susie staring straight into his eyes. She then nods. Argentum has a questioning face, but he nods along nonetheless. _What is she up to?_

 _Kevin tells Susie, "Just keep nodding to him. He'll be very confused, but we're keeping him distracted. Mwahahaha!"_

Susie still keeps nodding, and she sees Argentum just nodding along.

"That's it!" says Annaleigh. "Let's try this one."

Annaleigh and Horden move to the axes. Susie looks at them.

"She's probably just tired. Don't mind her," says Annaleigh.

"No I'm not minding her," says Horden. "She might just be thinking of home."

 _Home._ Susie thinks of her parents, her dead sister whom she killed, her ex-friends - all of them. She stares blankly to the wall on a far end of the room. Home is nothing to her anymore. _Kevin made me lose my home._ She then stares at another wall. _No, I made me lose my home, my sister, my friends._ Just the thought of them makes her miss the days wherein Kevin wasn't always with her. Susie watches Annaleigh and Horden whacking more dummies but with axes this time. Susie wonders, _How many dummies does this place have?_ Not long after, she decides to look for her allies. As she leaves, she notices her district partner going to the axe station. He waves to her, but she just stares at him, not acknowledging the wave. _What's wrong with me?_

* * *

"Welcome back stunt people!" greets Alistair to the four. "Today, we have a guest with us. Please say hello to Imogen Omega."

"Hi fellow people!" she waves.

"Please take a seat." Alistair and the other five people he's meeting with all sit. They are in a meeting room, to not disturb other gamemakers working. Alistair brings a laptop and a hologram to project certain parts of the arena. "As you are aware by now, each of the sectors you're responsible for have a theme attached to them. There will be exclusivities per sector, so I'd like to expound on those today." Alistair flips a page in his notebook. "Let's start with the special mutt."

"Special mutt?" questions Lucius.

"The mutts will mostly be in the mountain and deep in the body of water." Alistair projects models of the mutts into the hologram. "The plan is to have them scattered around the mountain mostly, but those are the regular mutts. Each sector, has a special mutt of its own. Think of it as... a guardian, a sector guardian."

"Ooh!" says Titan and Halizeia in unison.

"Based on our themes, we have these deity-like mutts per sector. You have the right to call them out whenever you wish to. However, Vint will also be able to control them in case you never call them out."

"I wanna see my mutt first," says Lucius.

"Very well then." Alistair projects a model of a small but long animal.

"WHAT!?" Lucius reacts.

"Calm down. That's just our basis. Based on last night's meeting with Histolion, it will be equipped with or made out of metal." Alistair presses a button, then the model's material changes slightly. "Other than that, we need to give it a face. It doesn't have to be intimidating, but there needs to be a face somehow." He presses the button again, and it looks cartoonish.

"Awww..." reacts Halizeia.

"Wow," Titan reacts.

Lucius comments, "Haha! It's cute."

"Vint hasn't named him yet. We then can't make a guardian mutt that small, so we have to increase the size." Alistair presses the button repeatedly.

"Oh yeah that's more like it!" Lucius says. "I can't believe it's cute though."

"Don't worry," Alistair says calmly. "Some tributes fall for cute mutts."

"Oh no!" Titan says, holding his laughter.

"Can I see mine next?" Eltha says.

"Very well then." Alistair presses the button repeatedly to make the enlarged serpentine mutt disappear. He then presses another button to reveal a fish."

"Why does she get something scarier!?" Lucius reacts jealously.

"It's just based on the sector. Don't worry, they are all equally powerful." Alistair presses a button, and crystals are integrated to the fish model. "For Sector Two, we have crystals and glass, but crystals on this creature will be better than glass."

Eltha watches the fish grow as Alistair presses a button repeatedly.

Lucius asks, "Wait, is my mutt and her mutt the same size?"

"You see, that's the thing. All your mutts have the same size."

"Oh!" Titan reacts.

"Fair enough," adds Halizeia.

Alistair presses a button to make the mutt model fade out.

"Can I go next?" asks Halizeia.

"Sure." Alistair presses some buttons to show a reptile.

"Hey!" says Halizeia in an interested manner.

"It keeps getting badass and badass. Why does my mutt look cute?" complains Lucius.

Alistair responds, "You'll be surprised with its power, Lucius. Anyway, yesterday's discussion with Histolion was porcelain."

A button is pressed, then Halizeia reacts, "Oh cool! My guardian gets an armor."

Alistair enlarges the reptile on the hologram. "I guess we're only left with Titan's."

"Yes!" reacts Titan.

Alistair presses some buttons, and a creature only known to exist in myths is projected on the hologram.

"OH MY SNOW!" screams Titan.

"HOLY MOTHER OF EARTH!" reacts Halizeia.

"FUCKING FUCK! I should've taken Sector One," says Lucius, still frustrated with his cute guardian mutt. He's banging the table until Halizeia tells him to stop.

Eltha just covers her mouth out of shock.

Alistair presses a button, and the mythical creature is now made of marble. He presses a button repeatedly to enlarge it.

"Now that's badass!" says Titan. "I can't wait to work with it."

Lucius just crosses his arms then sits back.

"It's fine," Halizeia tells him. "We haven't seen them all in action."

"Correct, Halizeia. I think all of you must know that these mutts will stay dormant at each corner of the arena until summoned." Alistair makes the model disappear. "Now, I must also let you all know that there are hovercrafts hidden in each of your control rooms. Use them without letting tributes know as much as possible. They look like the hovercrafts we use."

"Got it," says Titan.

"Okay," Halizeia responds.

"Each of you also have unique facilities." Alistair flashes them on the hologram. "You have already seen them, but here's a quick overview for them all."

"Okay." Halizeia has her thumbs up.

"Gotcha," replies Titan.

Eltha is silently listening, while Lucius is still disappointed with his mutt.

"Now, Imogen..."

"Yes sir! Hi! I'm Imogen Omega, but you can call me Gen. I have contacts to a lot of wholesalers for food."

"So what's that got to do with us?" asks Lucius as he puts on his sunglasses despite being indoors.

Alistair says, "We're not letting you hunt for food. You need food and drinks too while staying there."

"True," says Halizeia. "Do we get to request our food?"

"Actually yes," answers Imogen. "As long as it fits the theme."

"Perfect!" announces Lucius. "I want barbecue!"

"Noted!" says Imogen.

"Are fruits, junk food, and noodles allowed?" asks Titan.

"Those are fine," says Alistair.

"Noted!" Imogen taps her ball-point pen on the table impatiently but excitedly.

"Do cereal and yogurt sound like valid food options?" asks Eltha.

"Yes!" approves Alistair. "That means you get the breakfast food."

"Breakfast food, noted!" announces Imogen.

"How about mine?" raises Halizeia. "I have my own farm anyway. Can I just use those?"

"Yeah, but what if you run out of supply somehow?" Imogen wonders.

Alistair says, "We can always call a gamemaker or an avox to deliver them, even for refills."

"I see! Noted then, just in case." Imogen then slides her pen across the table excitedly. "Oh wait. What about drinks?" Imogen grabs her pen back. "We can't always have water!"

"I guess milk is mine?" Eltha says.

"I can only think of milk for mine," adds Halizeia.

"Both of you can have milk," says Imogen. "Although I suggest adding something else for uniqueness."

The two ladies think, while Titan says, "Soda, and I'll need straws."

"You got it!" Imogen takes note of it. "So yours is the junk storage?"

"Almost, yeah," responds Titan.

"I guess I can have juice too, fruit juice, vegetable juice," says Halizeia.

"Noted!" Imogen faces back to Eltha.

"M-Milkshake," Eltha says nervously. "Milkshake is cold."

"Good point." Imogen writes it down. "We're waiting for you, Mister I-don't-like-my-mutt."

Titan tries to hold his laughter.

"Hey! I was trying to think!" Lucius responds.

Imogen puts her pen on the table. "I'm suggesting tea, because you have a..."

"Yes! Fine. Give me tea," Lucius leans back on his chair.

"Okay! All noted." Imogen clicks her pen. "I'll have the stocks delivered as soon as I can. This service is free of charge."

"Wait what!?" says Alistair.

"Yeah," says Imogen. "It's only now that I got to give back to the internship that pays me..."

"Shhh! Okay okay. Thank you. We have ourselves a deal."

"My pleasure! I'm glad I'm of help. Anything else for the meeting?"

"You're dismissed if you want, Imogen, but yes, we still have climates and calamities." Alistair returns to his laptop and starts projecting stuff on his hologram. "These are the calamities we have planned for all the sectors." He animates what is expected to happen from each sector. "There are three waves of calamities for each sector. On the first and second waves, stay inside, whether that'd be you or the tributes. If the tributes don't stay inside, they risk themselves getting killed or injured."

"Whoa whoa whoa, what about the third wave!?" Lucius points at the animations on the hologram.

"That's when you apply your stunt skills!" Alistair rubs his hands. "We don't call you stunt people for nothing. You're all called such - except you Imogen -because you risk yourselves getting killed by the tributes, the mutts - not including your guardian mutts, and your own third wave calamities."

"Wait, what are we supposed to do on the third wave?" asks Lucius.

"You get out. Once you activate the third wave, you are given ample time to leave your sector. Once you activate them in your control panels, there's no turning back. Your sector gets destroyed, and everything that wasn't activated previously will be activated by default, that includes releasing your guardian mutt as well as any climate that was never activated. You only have two climates to pick from by the way."

"Question, what if all sectors have already been destroyed?" Titan asks.

"Tributes will be forced to stay inside or on the mountain. The plan is to have the third wave when we are nearing the end game. We try to cut down the numbers when the games are lasting too long. Try not to activate wave three before the feast. Lara's got something big planned."

"Ooh!" reacts Titan. "My mom is such a great sponsor."

"Yes she is! There are manuals for the control panels and they will be provided. You can't accidentally press wave three unless you goof up," Alistair says. "Any more comments, questions, or violent reactions?"

Lucius raises his hand. "I want female avoxes."

"Why?"

"Because I'm straight," says Lucius. "Or at least I fuck straight."

Alistair stares at Lucius for a while, before noting it. "Anything else?"

Eltha raises her hand for a question. Follow-up questions are brought up. Clarifications are made. More questions are asked, before everyone is dismissed. All won't be revealed until the arena, however. After the meeting, they all leave to their separate ways. As for Alistair, he makes his way to the monitoring room. Cress knows the drill.

Summary:

Annaleigh, Argentum, Jeanne, Horden, Orion, Kobe - axes  
Lainey - sword  
Rufus, Ciara - fire and cooking  
Kylie - cooking only  
Arlenna - edibles  
Dante - poisons  
Susie, Ingeo, Poppy, Owen - throwing knives  
Filly, Thomas, Corinna, Macy - shelter  
Brenna - 9th floor using uncommon weapons  
Tira, Chip - pool  
Dorian - diving

They watch Dante move from the laboratory to the hand-to-hand combat. Meanwhile, Dorian is also getting off of his scuba gear.

* * *

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10**

After a few minutes, Arlenna and Ciara reunite at the shelter station.

"Winnie! The edibles station is a waste of time."

"I don't like fire, Gracie. I might burn my long hair accidentally."

 _Speaking of your hair..._ "Well, you can get rid of it."

"I plan to, after the interviews." Arlenna fingers through her long hair. "I want to keep it until the night of the interviews."

"I have an idea, Winnie. Since the private sessions are tomorrow, how about one of us shaves our head clean if we get a lower score?"

 _Oh no. I was just expecting to cut it a little above my shoulders._ "Um..."

"Come on! Don't be such a baby. Coach Gen says you're a brave girl!"

 _She's right. I should be a brave girl. I am a brave girl._ "Um... fine."

"Hah! Good luck tomorrow, Winnie!"

"But wait, what if we both get the same score."

 _Hmmm... then neither of us shave our heads? That'd be boring!_ "Hmmm... I think... we should both shave! It's fair and square."

"Fair and square, Gracie." Arlenna lets out her hand.

"Fair and square, Winnie." Ciara shakes Arlenna's hand.

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

As Ciara and Arlenna arrive at the shelter station working together, the four of them have been working on a shelter for a while now.

Macy says, "The doctor said I should be careful about cutting myself."

"Capitol technology is cool!" exclaims Corinna. "They just have to spray something on Macy's hand, and the cut disappears without a trace!"

"That is cool!" Filly agrees.

Thomas says, "I didn't think medical technology would be that advanced, but I know there's a lot of medicine available here."

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1**

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4**

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District 7**

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10**

Orion and Kobe are training with axes together, while Argentum and Jeanne have been whacking more dummies with axes. Argentum shows off to the other two boys nearby, then flexes when he's done.

"You don't scare me!" Kobe says.

"Oh yeah!? RAA-" Argentum was rudely interrupted by a slap from Jeanne.

"Babe, shut the fuck up. I've heard enough of your nonsensical bullshit today. Okay!? Get your shit together!"

"Sorry, babe."

"Let's go, before you embarrass us to more kids."

"Okay."

With that, the two careers head to the dagger station on the same level.

"Let's go," Orion says.

Kobe drops his axe and follows Orion. They head to the edibles station this time.

 **Lainey Sash (18) - District 8**

Lainey watches a fellow tribute come as Density and Gravity are finishing up on their hand-to-hand combat lessons.

 **Brenna O'Hare (18) - District 2**

"Hey it's you again, Two!" greets Density. "How can I help you?"

"Wrestling," she says softly.

"Um... pardon?"

"Wrestling," Brenna repeats slowly and slightly louder.

"Aha! Bro, go give Eight some boxing lessons first."

"Sure bro." Gravity stretches his hands. "I'll teach you boxing tricks, Eight, then we switch. After that, we want to see you two fight. How does that sound?"

While Lainey is thinking of an answer, she looks at Brenna's direction and unintentionally made eye contact. _She gives me the chills._

 _Eight Girl is a tough contender this year. Can't wait to see her score,_ thinks Brenna.

In any case, both Gravity and Density convince them to have a duel later after boxing and wrestling sessions.

 **Kylie Ford (16) - District 6**

Kylie was curious, so she checked out the gym. Now, she has a personal trainer guiding her with the weights and equipment around the gym.

Doey Bravo says, "Now, give me some sit-ups, around twenty."

Kylie does twenty sit-ups. She's already exhausted from the long day, but there's still enough time for her to not waste. _If I wanna go back home and win this, I have to work hard enough to give myself a better chance at this._

 **Dante Blackwell (14) - District 12**

Being the only one on the level, Dante decides that learning how to use the staff with the trainer's guidance is a good idea.

Dexter says, "There's a lot you can do with the staff. It can be used for attack. It can be used for defense." He demonstrates it. "Now, let me guide you to this."

What Dante has been doing all day is hiding almost every time from everyone as much as he can. He does not want anybody to remember him. If he dies, he does not want fellow tributes to even know how he will die. He's introverted, sure. Being a tribute in the Hunger Games is not something he's proud of though. I mean, who would be in a district like Twelve?

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

 **Ingeo Olefin (15) - District 8**

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11**

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11**

Owen is learning how to use the slingshot as per Poppy's request.

"Like this?" asks Owen.

"No, no, like this," says Poppy.

 _I know kid. I'm just eating your time._ Owen corrects it.

"Yes, like that."

Ingeo is practicing the slingshot as well by hitting targets. The trainer, Ultra Chaos, watches the three practice using slingshots. Meanwhile, Susie is at the background playing with the slingshot.

 _"I dare you to hit her foot," says Kevin. "You're gonna live past the bloodbath for sure."_

Susie stares at Poppy's foot. Susie gets a rock and tries to launch it to Poppy's foot. She keeps doing so, and the trainer just watches her do so. At some point, it hits Ingeo's foot instead while he was walking. He looks at Susie, then to Poppy's direction.

 _"Tell him 'I'll kill you,'" Kevin commands her._

"I'll kill you too." Susie says it enough to make Poppy and Owen look at her. She covers her mouth then faces the trainer. "I-I'll... I'll... kill you."

"AHAHAHA!" Ultra just laughs in disbelief, having witnessed the whole scene.

Susie feels tears forming, so she drops the slingshot and runs down the stairs.

"Susie! It's okay," Owen tries to say loud enough, but Susie doesn't return.

Poppy says, "Let's keep her out."

Ingeo just stares at the rock near his foot. _She said she would kill me. She said she would kill me. I'm gonna die. Why don't I want her in my alliance? I can't live if Susie's gonna kill me. Who says I'm getting out alive!?_ Ingeo falls to the floor, feeling devastated.

As Poppy focuses on hitting more targets with rocks by slingshot, Owen sees Ingeo staring on the ground. _That Seven girl may be shit, but she's become very useful._ He can feel an evil smile creeping inside him, but he doesn't show it. He turns back to shooting more rocks at the targets.

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

Susie takes the shuttle back to her villa. _Why must this happen!? I don't want to live anymore. I'll just do something and get myself killed. My family... what if Kevin kills them because I kill myself? I can't let that happen, but I can't keep suffering like this._ She wipes tears off her face and continues to think.

 **Brenna O'Hare (18) - District 2**

 **Lainey Sash (18) - District 8**

Even though they were both taught wrestling and boxing tricks, they were reminded of some moves for hand-to-hand combat. Now, both twins watch the girls fight. Brenna tries to grab Lainey's neck, but she blocks the move. She then tries to punch Brenna on the stomach, and yet Brenna blocks it as well. Both twins cheer for both girls as they watch them trying to punch, kick, flip the other. At one point after a couple of minutes, Brenna makes Lainey trip by sliding her foot. Lainey falls, and Brenna carries her before tossing her back to the ground. Brenna is on top of Lainey and is about to punch Lainey in the face.

"Okay that's enough!" Gravity announces. "Brenna wins!"

Brenna gets up from Lainey and Gravity raises her hand like a champion. She feels like a champion. _I'm gonna kill Eight myself._

It's been a long day, and she's more than prepared to fight and kill once she gets to the arena. She leaves the area victoriously, and plans to head back to the villa. After all, training started an hour earlier today than yesterday.

Density helps Lainey up after a while.

"You okay?" asks Density.

Lainey hesitates but nods. "Yeah."

Gravity tells her, "As much as possible, do not leave any opening for your opponent, whether it'd be on your hands or feet."

"I forgot it for half a second," says Lainey.

"And she got you there," continues Density.

There comes a pause, then Lainey says, "I want to learn how to disarm people."

"Hey disarming!" says Density, interested. "Nobody has requested that before."

"Nope," says Gravity. "We can now focus on you since Brenna's more than prepared to own you."

Lainey agrees grimly. If there's anybody she wants to take down, it'd be Brenna. _Not only has she proven herself to be a threat, but she's by far the strongest and most serious tribute in training. It'd be intimidating to kill her myself, but it would be an accomplishment!_

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10**

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District 7**

As they finish their edibles quizzes, they both agree to call it a day. Yesterday's start time was eight o'clock, whereas today's is seven o'clock. They both take the elevator down and ride the shuttle back to their respective villas.

Kobe twiddles his fingers out of boredom. Orion then pats his shoulder.

Orion says, "Do you miss home?"

 _The fuck!?_ Kobe puts on a grumpy face. "I don't care about home." Yet deep inside, he does.

"Really? What do you do at home?"

"Nothing!" denies Kobe aloud.

Orion shares, "Well, I work, play, climb trees..."

"Play!? Hah!" Kobe makes a judgment as if he doesn't play. "Playing is for kids." _Yeah yeah, I play cards with Zaire, but those are cards and do not count. Playing is really for kids._ Yet he doesn't realize his bitterness was caused by his lack of a childhood, since he's not anywhere near the friendliest kid in the district.

"Well..." Orion doesn't know what to say after being judged. "Um... I guess playing pranks are not alwa-"

"Okay okay! Fine! You're too childish you know? Why do you have to lock me in the tent!? Or or, you almost killed me yesterday!"

Orion chuckles nervously. "I was just having fun."

"Fun!? You call that fun!?"

"Well, for me at least." Orion smiles brightly.

Kobe gives Orion one last glare before being grumpy as usual. They arrive at the District Ten villa not long after.

"Bye!" Orion waves to Kobe.

Kobe looks back and stares at him for a second before going inside the villa. A part of him wanted to say 'Bye!' or 'See you tomorrow!' He thinks that's unnecessary though. He and Orion just have an agreement to look out for each other in the arena, or at least that's what he thinks.

Outside, the shuttle leaves. Orion frowns a bit for being ignored, but he is relieved that he now has an ally. No matter how bitter he is, Orion thinks Kobe is sane enough to work together with him. Inside, he smiles at that hope.

 **Rufus Cornelii (12) - District 2**

Even Rufus Cornelii thinks the day has been taking so long to end, but he is aware that he can leave anytime. He whacks a dummy one last time on the head with his mace before he drops it to the ground. He heads down and rides the shuttle back to his district's villa. Part of him wants to burn the training center to the ground. He just loves fire! That may screw his chances in winning though. If he wants to be one of the youngest victors - especially the youngest career victor in history - he will have to play fair before they rig his death. He has burned his old school in hopes of lessening the competition for volunteers. He got expelled, but it didn't matter later on, as he burned the chosen volunteer in the bathroom during the party on the night before the reapings.

 _Poor Blasius is going to end up like one of those trainers in the academies or in here. Oh, and his favorite station would be the fire-making one. I'd love to be victor so I can live and see it myself._

Criminal activity is nothing new to him. Being a gang member, he is used to causing trouble. For now while they're in training, he keeps to himself. Nobody knows he can cause that much trouble except some of the people in his district. The havoc he desires to create in the arena excites him already. He has noticed some worthy targets so far, and they won't see it coming. A smile creeps into his face as he leaves the shuttle. _We're getting closer to the arena._

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3**

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

At the library, the six are just chilling. Chip has his eyes shut, thinking and relaxing, but not sleeping.

Macy says, "Where is Dorian?"

"I'm here."

They all turn, except Chip, to see Dorian just arriving.

 **Dorian Belcorn (18) - District 9**

"I have a lot of news," he says upon sitting down. He looks around to check for eavesdroppers outside the alliance before saying, "I found a hidden training area."

"Is it here in the library?" asks Filly, remembering the hint Ciara gave him.

"Yes, and no." Dorian gets up to get a book nearby while his alliance members watch him. He returns with the book, opens it to the page, and passes it around. "If you tell the avox driving the shuttle this secret message, they will lead you to the training tarmac."

"Ooh!" realizes Thomas.

"Now I get it!" Filly adds.

Tira asks, "But what's in the training tarmac?"

Dorian says, "It hints you about the arena!"

Upon hearing that, Chip's ears perk up while his eyes are still shut and his head is resting on the table. _Going there will increase our chances of survival more!_

Dorian expounds on the matter. "Today, I visited a couple of stations there. They have raft making, diving, farming, zero-gravity, and a couple more. There were even stations for fishing, canoeing, locks, explosives, paragliding, and ice skating."

"I wanna go ice skating!" Macy pipes up. That made the librarian say, "SHHH!" Yet ironically, she screamed earlier this morning.

"Now, what do you think could the arena be?" Dorian asks.

They all put on their thinking caps. Even Chip is thinking with his eyes closed.

Tira says, "I think the arena would involve water."

"I thought of the same thing. We can't just leave a secret tarmac for nothing when there's canoeing, diving, and raft-making there. Anything else?"

"You said there's a zero-gravity station?" Thomas asks for clarification.

"Yes! That confused me. Why would zero-gravity be needed?" Dorian scratches the back of his head.

"Wasn't the bloodbath last year in a dark zero-gravity room?" Tira brings up.

"Mmhm..." agrees Dorian somewhat. "Ah yes, now I remember."

"We could also be thrown to space, but there's water, so probably not." Tira wonders, "What could we expect for the bloodbath twist this year?"

Dorian speculates, "Well, there is water, there is zero-gravity, there's paraglid-"

Macy exclaims, "What about the ice skating!"

"We could be given skating shoes to start off," speculates Tira.

"Or not. Perhaps the skating will only matter if the water freezes over. Why would there be diving then?" Dorian points out.

Thomas wonders, "What if they let us dive to get our goods first?"

"Are we expecting the whole arena to be water? I just learned how to swim yesterday," Filly adds.

"Good point, Fil," Dorian responds. "What if the water is only a part of the arena, like a river, or a lagoon, or a shore?"

"What about the locks?" Tira reminds. "What does it have to do with the arena? What does it even look like?"

"I don't know where to put that actually," Dorian now rubs his chin.

Corinna says, "Wait wait wait. Can we go there tomorrow and discuss more by then?"

"Good idea!" Tira agrees. "Let's all go there tomorrow."

"Fair enough. When you see the stations yourselves, then you might know more about the arena." Dorian checks the time. "Alright. You're all dismissed."

 **Annaleigh St. Cloud (17) - District 1**

 **Horden Tanase (17) - District 4**

At the edibles station, they are both lying on the cold ground.

"I'm tired," says Horden.

"Me too," responds Annaleigh. "At least we've brushed through the survival stations."

"True," Horden agrees.

They both stop staring at the ceiling and get up. They head down to ride the shuttle back. They see the big alliance there, and ride the shuttle with them.

"Well this is awkward," Annaleigh shares to Horden softly.

"I know," Horden replies softly.

Earlier today, they have discussed about big alliances and the history of anti-career packs in recent years. For now in training, it's about working hard, and perhaps playing hard as well. When they get to the arena, if any of them attacks a career, the whole alliance will be a red flag.

 **Kylie Ford (16) - District 6**

"Attention tributes! The training center will be closing in ten minutes."

"What a day!" says Doey Bravo as he flexes his muscles. "Do you wanna call it a day? I still have to pack."

 _It is a long day indeed._ Kylie nods. "Okay."

"Alright, good luck out there kid!" Doey pats Kylie's back before heading to his quarters.

Meanwhile, Kylie makes her way outside. She sees a fellow tribute waiting for the shuttle. She looks at the tribute, and the tribute looks back.

"Hi there," she says. "I've seen you around a lot today, Six. I didn't get your name earlier."

"Kylie, Kylie Ford."

"Lainey, Lainey Sash."

They shake hands.

 **Lainey Sash (18) - District 8**

"How's training?" asks Lainey.

Kylie nods slowly, thinking, before saying, "It was fine."

"It prepares us," says Lainey. "Don't you think?"

"Mmhm." Kylie responds softly, but Lainey gets it.

They both listen to the sound of crickets for a while, as nobody speaks.

"I think it's fair they let us train before actually going to the games," adds Lainey. "Don't you think?"

"Mmhm." Kylie's response is as soft as previously.

Not long after, the shuttle arrives and both girls ride it back to their villas. They don't speak to each other. Kylie is the shy type after all, while Lainey just likes keeping to herself sometimes. They reach the villa for District Eight first.

"May the odds be ever in your favor, Six - Kylie, I mean. Sorry," says Lainey, then she smiles for confidence after the slight error.

Kylie responds with a thumb up, then the shuttle leaves as Lainey enters the villa.

What a long day!

* * *

AN:

Night chapter next week and we'll have Lucius next for the stunt people interview. I'll see if I can still update the week after.

Normally I don't ask questions, but I'd like to hear some thoughts, although optional:

What do you think will the guardian mutts look like in the arena?

Any predictions on the arena as a whole? I've asked this before, but now that we know more, I'm asking it again. ;)

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Stay tuned for next week's update! :D


	33. Night 3: Fun Stuff

**Brenna O'Hare (18) - District 2 Tribute**

 **Rufus Cornelii (12) - District 2 Tribute**

 **Cyrus Mackintosh (18) - District 2 Mentor**

 **Leif Ray Khan (27) - District 2 Escort**

Cyrus is on the sofa, texting someone with his phone. Brenna is resting on the carpet. Rufus is pretending to read a book while peeking into what Cyrus is doing. Leif is patting and rubbing his new baby bunny.

"Isn't she adorable!?" Leif asks the people in the room.

"Yes she is." Cyrus keeps typing on his phone. He then puts it down after a minute. "So you two, how was training?"

"It was fine," Rufus replies.

"Eight," says Brenna.

"Mm?" says Cyrus while putting his hand over his ear.

"Eight girl," she repeats a bit louder.

"Oh heck! Eight is fun," Leif says. "She was the one dressed as a witch. She's cool so far, and even better that she volunteered."

 _Want me to slice your bunny this instant?_ But Brenna doesn't say that. Instead, she says, "She's a threat."

"Ooh! Is she the next Karla?" Cyrus asks.

Brenna stares into Cyrus without a reply.

"Oh I'm sorry. You don't know Karlasia Trappist, her mentor, Victor of the 138th Games."

Rufus adds, "She won her game because the careers that year were a trainwreck."

"Yes, to be honest. You see, I was in a pack, but my fellow careers got annoyed with me, so they threw me out of the car-eers. I took no offense and survived on my own. Eventually, I won, and now I'm here mentoring." Cyrus checks his phone once again. He types to reply to the message, but continues talking shortly after. "My advice: If the tape is not adhesive, you don't have to stick with them. Some careers are chili. They'll mark you off as a threat and you'll be hot on their heels. They will burn you down until your end if you leave them. Others are chill. They just let you be, cold. You see, the point of having a wolf pack way back the dinosaur era was that you're all trained to be proficient with weapons. You're the strongest ones. You put on a show. But really, if the career pack is not for you, you don't have to gear up to them. If you have the balls to be forever alone, then roll with it!" He puts his phone on his pocket. "Okay peeps. Got a game to play. Cy-onara!"

"See you later, Cy!"

"Khan definite-Leif wait!" Cyrus then exits the villa.

Rufus looks at his nails now that he's bored. He's not interested with the book anyway. He misses his sharp nails, which his stylist cut during the parade prep. _I could've used them as a weapon, and although Tasrita is fun, she sucks in this manner._

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11 Tribute**

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11 Tribute**

 **Jakobbo Langka (59) - District 11 Mentor**

 **Calient Racha-Basco (40) - District 11 Escort**

 **Marjorita Tisho (23) - District 11 Stylist**

 **Canvas MacMaquinMash (32) - District 11 Stylist**

Canvas announces, "Today, we have seafood!"

"Have you seen Poppy or Owen?" Marjorita asks.

"No," says Calient. "But doesn't training end at..." He looks at his fiery red watch.

The door opens and both tributes come inside.

"What took you two so long?" asks Marjorita.

"We were training with the dagger," says Owen.

"I was also helping Ingeo cheer up," Poppy adds. "He feels down this afternoon, and I don't know why."

"Well, it must have been a rough day for him. Come on. Let's eat!" Marjorita leads them to the dining table.

Canvas places down all the seafood on the table. Calient calls Jakobbo from his bedroom.

Dinner goes by fine for the most part. When Jakobbo is getting his second serving of seafood noodles, he sees a tiny orange octopus tentacle. He stares at it.

 _~Flashback Start~_

 _At a clinic with flickering lights on an evening, Jakobbo was hiding from whatever the noises were._

 _Someone suddenly barged into the room. "I got you now, Eleven." The boy had a 4 on his patient outfit. He held his dart gun and prepared to shoot._

 _Jakobbo covered his eyes with his arm, expecting the dart to shoot him._

 _The lights went off and even the career was surprised. "That won't stop m- KAAAHH GGGR..."_

 _Jokobbo got the flashlight from his bag and shone it on the spot where the boy from Four was. He first saw the boy's patient uniform. Blood was all over it. The body collapsed to him, and that was when he realized the boy from Four lost his head to something. He shone the flashlight in fear and panic to see an orange mutt with tentacles covering its eyes. He then made a run for it, learning that it disliked the light very much._

 _He couldn't help but remember the boy from Four missing his head. Blood was all over his outfit, and he continued to run until he saw the girl from Two._

 _"Stop right there, Eleven!" She threw her skuriken but missed. She threw another, and it missed again. "Why do I always get the bad weapons!?" Frustrated, she realized that Jakobbo had disappeared. "You can run, Eleven, but you can't hide."_

 _He hid at one of the dark hallways of the hospital. She was looking carefully, and without Jakobbo noticing, she came from the back. "Gotcha!" But before she threw her shuriken, she turned back. "AAAAAAAAAAHHH!"_

 _Jakobbo covered his ears from the shrill voice. He then witnessed the girl from Two's head being ripped out of her body, by none other but the same mutt he saw earlier. He ran as fast as he could with the flashlight in hand. He turned it on and shone it backwards. He knew he'd be getting attention if he shone his light that way, but he'd rather not see the six-foot tentacled mutt ripping off another person's head ever again._

 _~Flashback End~_

Jakobbo breathes heavily. He drops the spoon and it makes a loud clanging sound.

"Um... Jak, are you...?" Calient doesn't finish his sentence as Jokobbo screams from the top of his lungs. He quickly rushes to the fridge and gets a whole bottle of alcohol.

"Jak! JAK!" Calient tries to stop him, but he chugs down about half of the bottle before he falls to the ground unconscious. More alcohol spill onto the floor.

"Is he okay?" Marjorita asks.

"I bet he was, always was," Canvas says sarcastically.

Calient looks down at the drunk mentor. "Well..." Calient lifts him up brings him to his bedroom.

Canvas shakes his head. "Don't mind that kids. Your predecessors might have seen worse."

"What happened?" asks Poppy.

"Post-traumatic stress disorder," says Canvas. "I am not sure, but it is likely from his games."

"Don't worry about it too much," says Marjorita. "Just eat!" Marjorita feeds herself with sushi.

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5 Tribute**

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5 Tribute**

 **Magnette Quirlix (27) - District 5 Mentor**

 **Caitlin Theardie (45) - District 5 Mentor**

 **Valtron Deja (42) - District 5 Stylist**

"Whatcha writing?" asks Maggie to Caitlin.

"Uh... a poem," Caitlin replies.

"About what?"

"It's a poem about the sea in the sky."

"Is that even possible?" questions Ciara.

Filly says, "Oh yes! Can you imagine water floating in the sky?"

"Yeah, like there's no gravity," Ciara continues. "I get it now."

"Exactly," says Caitlin with a smile. "Want me to read it out?"

Nobody objects, and Maggie lets out a hand, signaling Caitlin to go on.

"From a land across the lake,  
Is a dream that keeps me awake.  
I look up to the sky,  
And water catches my eye.  
No it is not a tear!  
It is the sea in the atmosphere.  
I see it dancing with the cloud.  
It feels like a part of the crowd."

Caitlin then continues, "It's still a work in progress. Not everybody writes a poem in one sitting. Sometimes, you have to put a lot of time and thought into it."

Everybody except Caitlin claps.

"It's wonderful!" says Ciara.

Filly adds, "I wanna give you a congratulatory hug!" Filly does so, and Caitlin accepts it, albeit awkwardly.

They discuss more topics on the dinner table while having Spanish food for dinner.

Valtron asks, "Care to share what you two did today?"

"Well, Winnie and I did a lot of things today," Ciara starts. "But the last three things we did were the wires, the ropes, and I played with the shuriken. Winnie is so interested in axes and I don't know why."

"We talked about going to the tarmac!" Filly says excitedly.

"The tarmac?" asks Maggie, confused.

Caitlin just smiles.

"Yeah, it's a hidden area open for tributes to train," continues Filly.

"We're also going there tomorrow," adds Ciara.

"Yeah!" Filly high fives with Ciara.

"Well, we wish you the best of luck, kids," says Caitlin. "It's not every year that a tribute from Five comes home. At least you will have better chances once you visit the tarmac."

"But I'll just look at it tomorrow," says Filly.

"It's better late than never. Some never found the tarmac," replies Caitlin.

Filly smiles in response and gives Caitlin another hug.

Caitlin stands up from her seat afterwards. "Well, I still have a meet and greet tomorrow. You two should get some rest too!" Caitlin then goes to her room.

Not long after, Ciara goes to the washroom.

Filly then asks, "Um... Maggie, Valtron, how do you know if you're in love?"

"Oh, that's quite a tough question," remarks Maggie.

Valtron responds, "Well, you'll know it yourself if you feel like you like someone so much that it would make you go crazy."

"It's a feeling so deep that you can't understand it yourself," adds Maggie.

Filly thinks and tries to understand if he really loves Thomas. _Maybe it's just friendship?_

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7 Tribute**

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District 7 Tribute**

 **Woodrow Stirling (21) - District 7 Mentor**

 **History Grenadine (39) - District 7 Mentor**

 **Latisha Morwan (29) - District 7 Stylist**

 **Vector Pen Umbra (30) - District 7 Stylist**

Susie throws a knife to Woodrow's direction.

"Shit!" Woodrow was able to knock it off with his fork. The knife wasn't sharp, but it was going straight to his face.

History suggests, "You know what? I think she should see a doctor."

"I agree," says Vector.

"Me too," says Latisha.

"There's one more training day left, and I don't think we want to waste her time at the doctor's clinic."

History objects, "Wood, think about this: Her health is more important than her training. It's much more difficult to win with that... that kind of state."

As Susie feels tears flowing, she runs to her room and locks it again.

Woodrow sighs at this. "I'll just go to the washroom. This is stressful."

As Woodrow leaves the dining area, Vector takes out an invitation.

"What's that?" asks Latisha.

"It's from the mentors of Two and Six, but Anakyn gave it to me, and they're inviting me to prank night."

"Prank night?" questions History curiously.

"Yeah, our target victim is the One mentor, Ace."

"I wanna go with you, because it sounds fun!" Latisha pipes.

"How about you, Orion?" asks Vector.

"Okay!" Orion says excitedly. "When is it?"

"The night after tomorrow," replies Vector. "It's a free day."

"Oh yeah! I forgot to mention. After your private session, we have approximately forty-eight hours to do anything we want in the Capitol, as long as it's not illegal." History takes out her phone, and shows Orion a picture of her previous mentee powdered with so much makeup. "This is Razz. She was 14. We went to the makeup store since she requested it." History wipes a tear from her eye. "It's every year since the Fifth Quarter Quell. They give all the tributes one last day to do anything they want in case they don't make it out."

Vector says, "And that's why we have an extra night to prank Ace!"

"Let's do it!" Orion responds then dabs. Vector dabs back.

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9 Tribute**

 **Dorian Belcorn (18) - District 9 Tribute**

 **Amaya Villanueva (56) - District 9 Mentor**

 **Bonita Fern (20) - District 9 Stylist**

 **Charlie Kale (31) - District 9 Stylist**

"Yeah, then the doctor gave me a lollipop afterwards for being brave," tells Macy happily.

"Well, you have to be careful not to cut yourself again," says Amaya. "The doctor won't be at the arena with you."

"I know."

Dorian then says, "We'll be going to the tarmac tomorrow."

"Oh, I've heard of it, but I've never been there," says Amaya. "I heard it's a secret training area that might aid the tributes in the actual arena."

"Yes." Dorian continues, "Tomorrow, we will explore the area further and find out what the arena is all about."

"What have you done so far, Mister Belcorn?" asks Chay.

"Aside from the tarmac, I mostly went around observing others."

Bonita asks, "What did you find?"

"There are a couple of dangerous outliers this year." Dorian drinks a bit of his pineapple juice. "The girls from Six, Seven, and Eight are people we shouldn't be messing with. The rude Ten kid - we need to stay away from. The girls from Five and Ten are a harmless pair, but we don't really know their true potential." He sips a bit more of his pineapple juice. "Also, the tributes from Two are silent, but they might be more than just that."

"Interesting observations!" says Amaya. "I say you're ready to take on them and win."

"Yeah!" agrees Macy.

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4 Tribute**

 **Delta Delta (38) - District 4 Mentor**

"Girl, either you lead or you don't," Delta says. "You don't have to cause unnecessary trouble."

"Girl, it's better if I lead," Jeanne argues with an eye roll. "The career pack this year is mine to lead."

"Fine! Just make sure it doesn't fall apart because of you." Delta leaves the room disappointed of the chosen volunteer.

 **Horden Tanase (17) **\- District 4 Tribute****

 **Tommy Rotterdam (28) **\- District 4 Mentor****

"What do you think of that strategy?" asks Horden.

"It's not a bad strategy. It is indeed necessary to get a kill, but sometimes you just can't." Tommy scratches his head. "Sometimes the bloodbath twist doesn't allow you to get a kill because of the even, or uneven, playing ground."

"I see." Horden then says, "I guess that means killing is optional in the bloodbath."

"Perhaps. Just remember to hunt for kills. That's more important."

"Alright."

 **Annaleigh St. Cloud (17) - District 1 Tribute**

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1 Tribute**

 **Ace Starling (32) - District 1 Mentor**

Ace says, "Look. I don't care what your overall strategy is. The most important thing is that you take out those District Three scums. I don't want Azriel to come home with another victor. He never even deserved this!"

Annaleigh thinks, _Okay then. I think you should calm down a bit._ She clears her throat. "We know they've won thrice this decade, but I don't think there's a good chance they'll win this year."

"With us around!" Argentum adds immediately.

"Just make sure," Ace says in a very serious tone. "I am done with you two tonight."

"Question."

"Yes Annaleigh?"

"About the career pack... when do you know the time is up?"

"Screw the pack if it hinders you! I had a pack, and when they died off, I did greater things. Don't be fooled with what they teach you in the academies. Just because y'all are trained doesn't mean y'all have to work together until the end. I've been through that shit. I learned from it. It doesn't work today. It worked back before the fall of the Snow Dynasty."

"I see." Annaleigh then reflects from it.

"Gotcha Ace." Argentum leans back his chair and attempts to reach for a fruit on the nearby table. He doesn't wanna get up.

"If you don't blend well with the pack, LEAVE them!" Ace says it fiercely enough that Argentum loses his balance and falls from his chair.

"I'm okay." Argentum just lies on the carpet, still not wanting to get up.

 **Lorenzo Delcroix (24) - District 3 Mentor**

 **Azriel Ruby (23) **\- District 3 Mentor****

 **Hazel Ciencius (15) **\- District 3 Mentor****

 **Predicate Clause (20) **\- District 3 Escort****

 **Anakyn Skyavich (34) **\- District 3 Stylist****

Anakyn, Cate, and the mentors play jenga in the living room. Azriel carefully pulls out a block from the stack.

"You know, this reminds me of how much I like building things with my own toy bricks when I was a child." As Anakyn shares that information, he pushes a block slowly but steadily.

"When I was a kid, all I wanted to do was draw, and sometimes read up on science." Hazel pulls out a block carefully.

"When I was a kid, my parents told me to believe in God and the Bible. Now that I've grown up, I know what's real and what's not. I even volunteered to prove them wrong." The statement makes an unsettling atmosphere, but it's the truth. He pulls a block near the bottom. The stack of blocks wiggle a bit, but it doesn't collapse.

Cate then looks for a piece. "When I was a child, I believe in Santa Claus so much. Although now, I think he's dead, so I have essentially replaced him to cheer up the children and adults who believe him!" She takes out a piece and the tower collapses.

"Wew!" Hazel exclaims.

"Well, that was fun." Anakyn helps pick up the pieces.

"I'm gonna watch TV now," says Cate.

Renz says, "Azriel and I will get some rest." Renz goes to the washroom first. Azriel helps pick up the pieces under the sofa. He then gets a glass of lemon water from the fridge before going to his bedroom.

"So Hazel, how's life as a victor?" Anakyn asks.

Hazel fidgets her hair. "Oh. I like how I have a scholarship ready for me in the future, and I can afford more things than before."

"Mmhm..."

"But now, I just feel like there's a lack of... a lack of privacy sometimes now that I'm famous."

 _Sad, but all victors go through that, especially the introverted ones._ Anakyn stretches. "Don't worry, Hazel. It's not easy adjusting to the life of a victor, but there will be more times in the future that not all the attention is with you."

"I understand." Hazel takes out a notebook.

"That's the one I gave you as a victory gift."

"Yes it is! I've used it for some biochemical ideas. Some of them might not make sense, but who knows what discovery I could make."

Anakyn nods. "I like how you're using it."

"I always love stationery!"

Anakyn and Hazel chat some more, until either of them are getting sleepier.

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3 Tribute**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3 Tribute**

 **Sophia Tristen (23) - District 3 Stylist**

At Tira's bedroom, Tira, Chip, and Sophia are playing a rhythm game in Sophia's tablet. They're all focused in playing, analyzing the musical patterns and rhythms.

At the end of it, Sophia says, "That was fun. It was great playing with you two."

"That was really fun!" Tira says. "Right Chip?"

Chip nods in agreement.

"We can play more tomorrow if you want, but if you're talking about visiting this tarmac as you said, you're gonna need some sleep now."

"Okay. Good night, Sophia!"

"Night." Sophia brings Chip to his room after they leave Tira's room. "Night," she repeats, but this time to Chip.

"Good night." As the door closes, Chip thinks what this tarmac holds. He is very excited to visit it tomorrow. On one hand, he may not like being in a big alliance because it catches attention, but without it, his chances would've been like the others who did not visit the tarmac. He's thankful in a way for the alliance Tira got him involved in.

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10 Tribute**

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10 Tribute**

 **Kylene Roa (25) - District 10 Mentor**

 **Abraham Braunock (44) - District 10 Mentor**

At the living room, after both mentors have given advice to both tributes, a topic was brought up unintentionally.

"Oh yeah, Leilah's got some backstory you shouldn't tell anyone else as much as possible," says Kylene. "Basically, she was an avox."

"How the fuck did she become escort and pick my name!?" Kobe rants, as expected.

"It was an apology," answers Kylene. "After she was proven not guilty of whatever she was accused of, the good people involved are helping her, giving her what she wants as an apology for having her tongue cut off. You can see through her eyes the darkness in her life. Don't be surprised she's mean. She's actually very hostile to most people because it was a human being who blamed her for such a crime."

"It's actually a good thing she was proven not guilty and she's being given everything she's asking for," adds Abraham. "Back in the Snow Dynasty, avoxes are never even given such trials. The tongues lost in those days were never returned. All avoxes were never given a second chance to disprove themselves. Now, it's a case-to-case basis. If you ask me, Doctor Flore may not be the ideal president for non-Capitolites, but she is rather merciful. Then again, she's not the best politician."

Kylene and Abraham got a little into politics after that. Kobe and Arlenna just listen to them. Kobe tries butting in from time to time, but since he gets ignored and he's tired from training, he just falls asleep.

"Yeah, as if President Victor Vanilla was that good," says Kylene.

"President Vanilla is cool to be honest," argues Abraham. "He's not vile, and the arenas in his time are historical, according to books and documentaries."

"What?"

"Assuming the sources are valid, he had Metropolitan Roulette based on a place called New York City, Europeia was after a place called Europe, Arabus came from the Arabian Peninsula, Shibuyan Capital was some metropolis called Tokyo, and Quetzese Park was researched heavily before they came up with it from ancient civilizations."

"How do you know all these?"

"I just got invested in the documentary. Think of it this way, we don't really care about them as district citizens. If you're a gamemaker making these, you'd think they're interesting."

"How do we know it's the president who came up with this then?"

"Grace also contributed to it. I know they picked her as head gamemaker after the arena in my year."

"What was your arena again?" asks Kylene.

"It was a chocolate factory. The idea was hers. The interior design was hers. I even found the hall of fame in the factory that read her full name, Agracidelle Hokkaido."

"What happened to your games again?"

At this point, even Arlenna is falling asleep. The two mentors continue their semi-political conversation until they run out of breath and notice the two sleeping on the sofa.

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12 Tribute**

 **Dante Blackwell (14) - District 12 Tribute**

 **Larry Rockenstein (37) - District 12 Mentor**

 **Evezleya von Evezelle (48) - District 12 Escort**

"No, I'm not kidding. Even though I lost my allies, if you win, you live, and that's what matters in the end. O-Okay?" Larry nervously bites his nails.

Both tributes nod in response.

"Bedtime, children!" Sylvia says. "You've got a big day tomorrow with the private sessions. We have plans after!"

"What plans?" asks Corinna.

"After the private sessions, we're going to eat somewhere better. No more homemade food for the third night. No more takeout or delivery as well. If you can call your friends to join us, that would be even better! Don't worry about the money. I'll shoulder them."

"Really?" asks Corinna with a tone of excitement.

"Of course my dears! It's not every day you get to eat good food. Now that you're in the Capitol, why don't I bring you to them?"

"I'm excited!" Corinna jumps excitedly.

Dante has no reaction, but inside, he thinks he should be excited too, except he hasn't seen it yet.

Larry says, "The food there is great. It's probably the best."

"Which is why we're going there tomorrow! We did that last year, right Larry?"

"Yes we did," he responds.

"Wonderful! I couldn't do it two years ago because I was only a part-time and emergency escort." Sylvia adjusts her headband with long ears. "Now, I can proudly tell my fellow escorts that I gave my tributes the best dinner of their lives. Even better if it's not just my tributes."

"Ooh!" Corinna reacts.

"Anyway, to bed now. You've got a long day ahead, and an exciting one too!"

"Okay, Sylvia." Corinna comes for a hug. "Good night."

"Good night, dear. Good night too, Dante."

"Night," he replies softly. He appreciates Sylvia's kindness, but he's just too shy to respond to her a bit louder.

"You too Larry. Get some rest," Sylvia says it with her arms on her waist.

"Okay, night Sylvia."

"Good night!" Sylvia then winks forward and says, "What do you think of the free day happening after the private sessions?"

 **Robert Royce (21) - District 6 Mentor**

 **Cyrus Mackintosh (18) - District 2 Mentor**

The two have been playing a racing game for hours now.

"Blue shell incoming!" says Cyrus as he presses a button on the console to release his item in-game.

"Not today." Royce goes off-road, but instead falls off the road. "Dammit!"

"Are you forgetting we're in Rainbow Road?"

"Yeah, fuck."

They continue with the game for a couple more seconds before they reach the end of the course.

"Hah hah!" Cyrus stands from the sofa. "Victory is mine!"

"Screw you," says Royce as he throws his console after a second place finish.

"You screwed yourself."

"I know. Long day tomorrow. Let's call it a night."

"Not really with my tributes, but yeah. Smell ya tomorroyce!"

"Smell ya!" Royce then rolls his eyes.

Cyrus lets out a hand, then Royce follows. They do their friendship handshake before Cyrus returns to his villa.

 **Kylie Ford (16) - District 6 Tribute**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6 Tribute**

At Kylie's bedroom, Thomas has been talking to Kylie. Thomas convinced her to open up, and so she did. Thomas learns why she ran off and did not follow him, and he only told her not to worry about the past anymore.

"I'm... I'm getting sleepy," says Kylie.

"I want to ask you one last thing tonight."

"Go on."

"Have you ever kissed a boy before?"

"I've seen my friends kiss, but I never kissed a-" Kylie stops from a surprise.

Thomas reaches out and lightly grabs the sides of Kylie's face. He leans in as he pulls her towards him. Their lips collide a bit harshly and Thomas lets out a little laugh before he kisses her again, much lighter this time. It's a bittersweet moment, both of them knowing that this can be one of their last nights alive.

Thomas always wants to do so many things, but he only has little time, and he was not born in the right place to do so many things. Kylie, on the other hand, may not seem so lonely when she was with Chris and Zoe, but even though she denies it, she does feel lonely deep inside.

After a while, Thomas says, "Well Kylie, now you have. Now I have kissed a girl too."

"Have you ever kissed a boy?" Kylie asks curiously.

"Not yet, but I hope I do, soon. Good night, Kylie."

"Good night, Thomas."

He leaves her room and shuts her light. Kylie lies down and stares into the ceiling. It is not really her dream to get her first kiss, but for some reason, she now feels attracted to this sick boy, who looks no beautiful than she is. He has a deep mind, and she appreciates him for that.

 **Alana Tapiocassava (20) - District 9**

 **Karlasia Trappist (18) - District 8**

Outside a café in the Capitol, the two share a strawberry shortcake as they talk their problems out to one another.

"I keep telling her, 'Mom, I'm twenty,' but she insists on going with me still." Alana stirs her hot white chocolate drink.

"My parents can be a bit annoying too. They want to think of me as a baby because I have three older brothers." Karla stirs her bubblegum frappe. "I keep telling my family I can do this on my own. I won my games because I can do it, and yet they don't believe me."

Alana sips a bit of her drink. "I can't imagine having to live with three older brothers when I only have a little sister."

"Until when is she safe from the reapings?"

"She's sixteen this year turning seventeen, so that's a step closer to safety."

"Yeah, at least." Karla scoops herself a little whipped cream with her straw.

"I guess our parents have still not adjusted to us being victors."

"Yeah! I totally feel the same."

"They still underestimate us and our capabilities."

"I know, I know." Karla twirls her blonde hair. "I guess they'll get used to it too, you know."

"Yeah, they will. Hopefully sooner."

"Adjusting to the life of a victor isn't easy. We can't blame them for this."

"I know. They won't understand what we've been though."

"They can't. They've never been to the arena."

"True." Alana gets a small slice of the strawberry shortcake and places it on her tongue lightly. "Are you going to prank night?"

"I'm still thinking. I don't want to mess with Ace, but at the same time it's fun."

"I totally get what you mean."

 **Ingeo Olefin (15) - District 8 Tribute**

After a long and tiring day, Ingeo is supposed to fall asleep with ease. However, he can't seem to forget the events earlier today. He can't forget the fact that Susie will kill her too. It's not just Poppy now. For some unfathomable reason, Susie is gonna kill him too. He's afraid and worried of that. He can't sleep. He doesn't wanna see Susie anymore after that.

He takes a book from the shelf and reads it for distraction. Unfortunately, the fact is still stuck in his mind, and he's very afraid that he can't do anything about it. He puts the book back and returns to bed.

He's worried sick and he can't get it off his mind, but he needs sleep to do well in tomorrow's private training. He has to sleep no matter what.

 **Lainey Sash (18) - District 8 Tribute**

 _Karla's not in the villa._ Lainey finds a disk and plays it on the disk player. She finds out that it is what she expects it to be, the 138th Hunger Games.

She skips some parts of the film. She then stops it at Karla's reaping.

 _"Karrr-lasia Trrrapist!" Vamp read aloud. "Please come forth!"_

 _Karla tried to run but found no escape to the situation. She then smiles and chuckles as she reaches the stage, after being brought by peacekeepers._

Lainey forwards it a bit more to the score reveal.

 _"Next up is Karlasia Trappist with a score of... six. Not bad," commented Sylvia._

Lainey then skips to the interview.

 _"I think my biggest weakness would be being too happy at serious times. I smile when I'm supposed to cry. I get tired when I'm supposed to be mad. I guess it's called stress, a different one perhaps."_

 _"What about your greatest strength?" asked Sylvia. "We don't want to know you by only your weakness."_

 _"I think my greatest strength is to always feel determined even in the most desperate of situations. When my father got cancer, my other family members thought we would be losing him, but I told them that he can still live, and they never believed me until he survived cancer." Karla kept up a smile while wiping a tear._

 _"I am very sure your father and the rest of your family are very proud of you." Sylvia looked to the camera and clapped lightly. The audience followed but with a louder round of applause._

Lainey skips it further to the bloodbath.

 _The stylist put the roller coaster restraint down for the tribute's safety. "Sit still."_

The screen splits tribute after tribute to show their reactions of the bloodbath twist.

 _Karla in particular seemed to enjoy the ride and screamed excitedly._ _Once all twenty-four roller coaster trains arrived at the cornucopia, all restraints were automatically lifted and Karla was the first or second to jump out of her train. She grabbed a bag and immediately fled._

 _The girls from Twelve and Eleven as well as the boys from Three, Seven, and Eleven died in the bloodbath. A few other events happened, but nothing exciting seemed to be happening. New areas were explored, such as an aquatic roller coaster ride, dark rooms on the way to a roller coaster in a dome, a 4D theater hall, an amphitheater, and a cable car to the other mountain and the other side of the arena._

 _Kaylynn of District Two said, "I respectfully disagree. Only some of us should ride to the other side."_

 _"We're a pack and we stay as a pack! Nobody gets left behind and that's my order," argues Power, the District One male._

 _Reluctantly for some, all six careers rode the cable car. Meanwhile at the other side, two thirteen-year-olds observed a peculiarity._

 _"There's one coming," said the District Three female, Nixette._

 _"We're cutting down the wire," replied Johan, the District Six male._

 _"How do we do that?"_

 _"They didn't sponsor us a toolbox for nothing. We give them a show!" He then clenched his fist determinedly._

 _In the cable car, while most of them sit still, Power had been lecturing them about not following his orders for the past few days. Suddenly, they felt turbulence before the cable car stopped moving._

 _Power opened a window and shouted, "Hey! HEY! DON'T YOU DARE! DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE!" He noticed they aren't too far from the mountain._

 _Without any response from the duo, they cut the remaining wires that kept the cable car stable. Eventually, the cable car fell and crashed to the cliff below them._

 _Karla watched the night sky to see all six careers dead. Shortly after, she received a sponsor gift, as well as the news to the feast. She had been hiding between bathrooms as they least expected her there. However, after the news of all career deaths, she showed her determination to take out the rest of her rivals and come home to the family who worried about her so much._

Karla returns to the villa. She catches Lainey watching her games.

"Hey! I told you not to watch that." Karla pulls the remote from Lainey.

"I was curious and I want to study your strategy!" Lainey reasons out truthfully.

"No! Find someone else's games, not mine." Karla successfully grabs the remote and switches off the TV. She then gets the disk from the player and hides it away to her bedroom, which she locks immediately.

Lainey is disappointed she didn't get to see how Karla won her games, but she understands what happened after the cable car incident. She would be glad to give the audience a show like that.

* * *

Alistair checks his watch, and it's time to go home. The life of a gamemaker requires dedication to one's job. As the head gamemaker, Alistair hasn't gotten proper sleep. His sleep is cut short, and he would instead sleep for a few hours when nothing is happening in the headquarters.

Alistair goes to the parking lot, where his car is parked. It's the only one left, as the trainers and other gamemakers have already gone home. Some gamemakers stay for the night shift. Work in the headquarters is flexible. Gamemakers can come and go at any time of the day. They get paid for the number of hours they work. Although Alistair has a higher salary by default for being head gamemaker, he knows that money can't buy time. It can't buy time for proper sleep. Nonetheless, he is dedicated to his work. Besides, this may be his last year as head gamemaker.

He drives himself home, seeing no need to ever hire a chauffeur. His house is only twenty minutes away. Upon reaching home, he plans to go straight to his bedroom. He doesn't expect someone to greet him though a little past midnight.

"Alistair!"

He turns around to see her mother with her cane.

"I hope you are not overworking yourself, my boy." She slowly approaches Alistair.

"I'm not, Ma." He denies it like usual.

"You look more than tired. I told Arthenia to prepare the bed earlier," she says, referring to his sister.

"I appreciate that, Ma. You should get some rest too."

"I will. I was just worried for you." She smiles, like how a proud mother would care for her son. "Good night, my boy."

He gives her a kiss on her forehead as a response, then heads straight to his room and lands straight on his bed.

He checks his phone. He doesn't always have time for social media, but it wouldn't hurt to check once in a while, like now. He then gets an email notification from one of his gamemakers. It says, "Sedna Neos: Good Morning Sir! I have finished drawing the fac..."

Alistair sighs in relief. It is needed tomorrow, and he's glad Sedna finished it before the deadline. He doesn't want to keep his eyes open any longer. He doesn't even set his alarm anymore.

Right now, all he needs is sleep.

* * *

Trigger Warning: Mentions of sex in various forms.

Isis returns from backstage and proceeds to her seat. She faces the camerawoman signaling her 3, 2, 1.

She flips her hair slightly then fixes it for a dramatic entrance. "Good midnight everyone and welcome back to Isis' Midnight Show! If you just tuned in, we had the Guardians of the Pacific earlier talking about their newly released album, Paradice." She takes out the album that has a blue cover of two dice made of ice with a tropical island as the background. "Up next, we have a super model and super star as our guest. He is a stuntman known for scenes involving explosion and car stunts. With one of the hottest stars of the decade tonight, let us please welcome Mister Lucius Thromanoid!"

The crowd applauds and a part of it screams. Lucius, in his yellow blazer over a brown dress shirt with brown pants and black leather shoes, walks fashionably with one eyebrow raised. His shades are on, so he takes it off slowly to show his orange-brown contacts. More people scream upon seeing his eyes. He softly finger combs his messy and spiky hair, now colored in red, orange, and yellow. It's quite a mess with a mix of highlights and streaks. It's all over the place. He shows his teeth as he smiles, revealing shiny golden teeth. As he takes a seat beside Isis, he softly and slowly rubs his red arm. He recently dyed his skin in the shade of dark scarlet.

"Good midnight, Lucius! What a new look!"

"Thanks Isis." He then sits straight. "I had it done earlier after my meeting with the gamemakers."

"We're gonna love you in the arena with your new look. I heard you're trying to blend well with your theme."

"Every one of us is doing that for the sake of the Hunger Games! We are all excited to be there." What Lucius doesn't know is that others are less excited than he expects them to be.

"What excites you the most of finally being part of the Hunger Games?" Isis asks.

"Well, if it's a stunt we're doing, it's a stunt I'm daring myself to do. You see, life here in the Capitol is too much love. Unfortunately, I hate saying this but life here is boring."

The audience goes "Ooh!" in either shock or offense.

Isis gasps for a dramatic effect. "Why would you say that?"

"I don't know, maybe it's the shitty life I have. I don't have a spouse, or a girlfriend at least. All I have are exes who cheated on me." Deep inside he knows he's the cheater, but he's making his reputation here. He can't settle for one girl at a time. _It's boring to stick with just one,_ he thinks. _It's more exciting to change girls every time._

"How many exes have you had?" Isis asks.

"I can't even count them anymore."

"Gosh. Wasn't Thea Laure one of them?"

"Oh yes she is. She made a song after me, and all I could do was laugh." He puts his shades back on, pretending to do so when he is actually wiping a tear off.

"Gee, your love life sucks. How about your family?"

"I have lost contact of my family. They don't really care of my success." Lucius may have honestly mentioned the loss of contact with his remaining family, but he has no idea if they really cared about his success or not. He just made it up.

"Wow, that sucks. Aside from family and romantic relationships, is there anything else you find boring with your life?"

"Yeah. Everything." The crowd laughs at his exaggeration. Lucius faces them, still with his shades on, to see their reactions.

"Wow. I don't know how to go in detail."

"I love my modeling and acting career, but trust me, they don't pay me enough." Lucius knows he's greedy, and it doesn't pay him enough simply because he gambles the money and spends it to pay for his sexual satisfaction.

"You think doing your part in this year's games will pay you enough?"

"Yes," he replies without thinking. He knows he's just gonna gamble it. "When I win, I can buy my girl anything she wants."

"Who would this lucky girl be?"

"Who knows?" Lucius winks to Isis.

Isis winks back hesitantly, reluctantly, and uncomfortably. Lucius is not her type based on the impression he's giving off currently. "Any hobbies you might miss while you're in the arena?"

"Oh yes, sex." The crowd laughs again, and he just smiles with his golden teeth.

"How often do you have... sex?" asks Isis uncomfortably.

Lucius answers proudly, "Every fucking day."

Some people from the audience laugh then applaud.

"You see, my life is dull and boring. I need girls to excite me, so I requested female avoxes to be delivered to my place."

"That's... well, I mean you don't have to pay them." Isis doesn't even know how to talk about sex unawkwardly. Maybe she should practice it? Maybe she should change the topic instead.

"Yes! They are free for me to fuck. If I meet female tributes in the arena, they're going to be so lucky to meet one of the hottest men of the decade."

"I see, but what do you really wanna do in the arena?" She wants to change the topic so bad that she impulsively asks a question that seems so random. "Wait, let me rephrase that: Aside from free girls, what do you want to do in the arena?"

"Oh, that's actually a nice question, since I keep talking about girls." He lets out a raspberry for the audience to laugh. He then takes off his shades. "You see, my stunts involve cars, motorcycles, explosives. When I said my life is boring earlier, I get to do these same tricks, and they're already planned. I knew I'd be safe, and that's great, but playing safe is not the most fun. Sometimes, you gotta get out there and let yourself be free. You don't have to keep everything so safe. You know what I mean?"

Isis nods hesitantly, considering certain situations and semi-agreeing to what Lucius just said.

"My life is dull. I need something exciting, like whether or not I know I would be safe."

"Let me give an example, if that's okay with you."

"Go ahead!"

"Let's say you put your money in the vault, then you don't lock it at all. Would that be fun?"

"It's exciting to be honest! Sure, it's my money, but that's not all of my money."

 _Playing it safe, eh?_ Isis responds, "Well, you sure are pretty smart not to put all your money there." Isis thinks, _What a loophole._

"I gotta put some in the unlocked vault for the thrill."

"Tell us talk more about your career! We know you're a super model and a super star, not just for stunts."

"That's right, Isis! I've played as the friend of the main character. I've played as the bastard who ruins it all. I've played the gay prostitute. I've played as a comedy cop. I've played as so many things I can't name them all. Hahaha!" The crowd laughs along a bit.

"You sure are pretty hot!" Isis makes this attempt to flatter Lucius. She's hoping he doesn't flirt with her after.

"Yes I am." He raises both his arms in slanted L-shaped positions to show his muscles. He flexes, and most of the crowd goes crazy.

"What do you model for?"

"Socks, gloves, general clothing, shades, swimwear..." Someone from the crowd screams, and Lucius gives her a wink with a snicker. "Um, underwear too."

"Wow! You sure have an exciting career."

"It's not exciting enough if you're in my shoes, which's why I'm here."

"I guess I can't relate. Sorry about that."

"No need to apologize. You'll only realize it once you're me." He winks to the crowd and people scream once more.

"Tell us one of your favorite stunts! I'm pretty sure we're all excited to hear about it."

"Hahaha! Why sure. I've ridden a motorcycle across rooftops. I come from a skyscraper, then I ride my way down to the next closest and slightly lower building."

"Oh wow! That is incredible!"

"It is since you're not in my shoes." He gives everyone another playful raspberry. "I did that all the way until I reached the ground. It was for a chase scene."

"That's so cool!" Isis claps and the audience follows. "Speaking of chase scenes, you think you can run away from tributes if they chase you?"

"Of course! That's no problem for me. I've been part of chase scenes even before they were cool." The audience knows it's an expression, since chase scenes have been cool even before the Dark Days.

"Well, we can't wait to see you out there, Lucius." Isis claps and the rest of the audience follow. "Our next guests are a pair of twins who have found a well-known dojo in the luxury district. We'll have them here on the Midnight Show when we come back!"

* * *

AN:

I have a couple of announcements!

1\. Special thanks to ShunKazamis-Girl for helping me sort out the physical appearances of the characters, some of which I failed to describe in detail or failed to describe at all. If you need to imagine every character properly, the appearances are all in the blog. You may also use them for art references!

2\. Special thanks to TheEngineeringGames for helping me in writing one paragraph of this chapter. She improved it after offering some help.

3\. If I don't update next week, I'll update the week after. Same time.

4\. This one is more of bad news: Once I finish the private sessions, I will put this story on hiatus once again. That's after 3 chapters: Training Day 3 and Private Sessions split into 2.  
Reason behind this is that I'll be starting thesis soon, and I don't think I'll be able to balance writing this along with thesis. If ever I continue writing after the next 3 chapters, I won't release them until August.  
I also plan to work on my portfolio, since I think what you do in college matters more than the grades you get. :)

5\. That said, however, if everything goes as planned, I should be able to release the bloodbath by December. (We're finally getting there after 2 years!) I have a lot of exciting stuff planned, and I've gotten this far!

Announcements aside, some fun stuff:

For 5 additional sponsor points! Answer the question on the 4th wall break.  
In case you didn't notice, there is one this chapter. I did one back in 2016, but nobody noticed it as it might be too vague. XP I think the one here is more obvious. It's a subjective question, so there's no right or wrong answer.

Also for fun, but no sponsor points. Some mentors have names relating to their background or district. Specifically: Renz, Hazel, Azriel, Delta, Tommy, Maggie, Royce, Woodrow, Alana, and Jakobbo. Can you guess the origins of their names? I will explain the right answers through PM or on a future chapter.

That's all for now. As always, hope you enjoyed the chapter! :D


	34. Training 3: Just Before The Show

**Kylie Ford (16) - District 6**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

Kylie enters the training center with her district partner just in time. Thomas pats Kylie's back before meeting up with his ally from Five.

She proceeds to the staff station, where two careers also arrive not long after. For now, practicing the staff will do. It has been her strategy not to go to two stations. She's been avoiding the knives station and the slingshot station. She wants to hide her abilities in both weapons.

 **Annaleigh St. Cloud (17) - District 1**

 **Horden Tanase (17) - District 4**

"Hi! Welcome to the staff station. I'm Dexter." The trainer lets out a hand.

"Annaleigh." She shakes her hand with the trainer's.

"Horden," he says as he follows. "We just need to refresh on our skills."

"Ah, careers. Well, good luck and have fun!" The trainer approaches Kylie instead. "Hi. Dexter." He lets out a hand.

"Kylie." She shakes his hand.

"Let me teach you correct stance and positioning."

"Okay." Kylie gives Dexter her staff.

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10**

The two girls are on the shuttle on the way to the tarmac.

"My district partner and his group are coming later," Ciara tells Arlenna.

"How did they find out?"

"The big guy from Nine." Ciara shrugs. "I guess the library is full of those clues. Otherwise, we would not have found it too."

Arlenna nods in agreement. "I guess we're not the only ones with the advantage now."

"Not necessarily. We probably did more than anybody else would have done."

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4**

At the cafeteria, Jeanne's having breakfast. She already had breakfast in the villa, but she's waiting for Argentum to arrive. Bananas and mangoes are on her table. She notices a few other tributes waiting for their allies to arrive as well. She then notices the main door open and Argentum arrives.

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1**

"Hi babe!" he greets.

"You're late," she says, matter-of-factly.

"What are you doing?" Argentum asks.

"I was waiting for you." Jeanne peels another banana. "This is already my fourth banana. I was pretending it's yours babe."

"Well, babe, I don't think you have to pretend anymore."

"Really?" Jeanne blinks dramatically and flirtily.

"Come on. Let's start training."

"I would have started without you." Jeanne rolls her eyes. "Let me just finish this."

"I can help you with the mangoes."

"Oh sure. We're not in a hurry. It's the last training day after all."

A few minutes after the two careers finish eating the fruits on their table, they start training by going to the nunchuks station. Meanwhile, another alliance is waiting at the cafeteria.

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3**

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

"I'm excited!" says Tira.

"Me too!" seconds Filly.

"Sorry we're late."

They turn their heads to the direction of the voice.

 **Dorian Belcorn (18) - District 9**

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

Dorian says, "We had problems with the training uniform."

"Let's go!" Macy jumps in excitement. "I wanna go ice skating! I wanna go ice skating!"

The seven board the shuttle. Dorian tells the avox, "Take Tiny Tammy to the tarmac to train truthfully."

With that, the avox drives the shuttle to the training tarmac.

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

 **Ingeo Olefin (15) - District 8**

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11**

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11**

At the sickles station, Ngano Pinipig helps the tributes how to use the weapon. He guides them in terms of stance, attack, and defense.

 _"Try to slash Ingeo, but don't kill him. That would be no fun!" Kevin tells Susie._

Susie shakes at the thought of having to injure someone in order to not let Kevin destroy what is left of her life. Susie carefully takes her sickle and slowly approaches Ingeo. She raises her sickle, and Ngano stops it.

"Excuse me?" he says.

Ingeo sees this and shakes in fear. _She wants to kill me! She wants to kill me now!_ The sight of Susie's position is very obvious. There's no other target.

Poppy and Owen then notice the situation too.

Not long after, Susie gets carried to the elevator by other trainers nearby.

Ngano says, "Well, that was unexpected."

Ingeo drops his sickle. He tells his allies, "Let's go somewhere else now."

"Okay!" says Poppy brightly. "I think I got this already."

Ingeo thinks, _Thanks for understanding. I wouldn't wanna touch a sickle now._

 **Brenna O'Hare (18) - District 2**

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4**

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1**

At the nunchuks station, Brenna polishes her skill as she hits the dummy back and forth, violently.

"You're rocking it right, Two!" Argentum compliments.

Jeanne comments, "Now that's what I call badass." Jeanne then claps slowly.

Brenna thinks, _I have impressed them, and that's enough. They won't think of me as a threat but rather as an asset. Once our alliance is over, I can take them all down myself. Not even Rufus will be trusted in that situation. He will be easier to take down._

 **Kobe Bridger (13) - District 10**

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District 7**

At the other side of the room, Leilah is helping Orion how to use a boomerang. When he's done, Leilah sits on one corner, waiting to guide someone.

Orion asks Kobe softly, "Isn't that your escort?"

Leilah glares into Kobe, and Kobe glares back. "Yes," he replies softly.

"She looks mean," says Orion softly. "But she's nice and helpful."

Leilah is still glaring straight into Kobe's eyes while Kobe is doing the same. "She picked my name from the bowl."

"She doesn't speak."

"She was an avox." Leilah glares further, listening to his conversation with Orion.

"She probably doesn't mean it, like how my pranks. You don't take them seriou-"

"Dude! This is serious shit. She drew my name from the bowl." Kobe gets up and goes away from Orion.

Orion looks at Leilah, who just shrugs.

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10**

Andrew Umeda says, "Well, I hope you two have learned something about zero-gravity. May the odds be ever in your favor."

"Thanks!" both girls respond before leaving the zero-gravity room.

As they do, they look for another station around the tarmac. The zero-gravity room is the first station they have visited for the day. As they go around, they see both District Three tributes in the lock station they tried on the first day.

"Do you know where the locks will be used?" asks Arlenna.

"Who knows? All we know is that it is very likely to appear in the arena."

They then see the girls from Nine and Twelve ice skating.

"Do you know how to skate?" Ciara asks.

"It... It rarely snows in Ten."

"Just as I figured. Come on, Winnie! You need to learn how this works in case we need it in the arena."

"Um, okay."

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

At the skating rink, Corinna falls as Macy pulls her too much to the side.

Ice Burgh says, "Be careful kids!" He skates on the perimeter of the skating rink, then he goes somewhere.

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay!" Corinna replies cheerfully. "This is so fun."

"New people, hi!" greets Macy.

"Hi!" says Ciara as she enters the rink. "I've seen you around but I never got to know your name."

"I'm Macy!"

"Ciara." She then lets out a hand, which Macy shakes enthusiastically.

"This is my friend Corinna!"

"Hello!" Corinna waves before getting up from the ice.

"This is my friend W- Arlenna, Arlenna."

"I know her!" Macy waves to Arlenna, and Arlenna waves back from the walls of the rink.

"You do, Winnie?"

"We had a little chat on the shuttle after the parade," replies Arlenna.

"Come on! Let's all skate together," Macy continues skating.

Corinna is back up with the help of the wall. Arlenna is trying to move away from the wall.

"Come on Winnie! Don't make me call you a wall hugger."

"I'm trying, Gracie."

"Try harder or smarter. Come on! I'm waiting here in the middle."

Macy then pushes Ciara off, giggling. "What do you do at home? You look so fit and healthy."

"Oh, I am a runner in my school's track team; I play the saxophone with my family; I-"

"I like you, Ciara. You're very cool."

"Oh why thank you! You're cool too. What do you do at home?"

"I like studying and learning new things! I wish my family can afford a pet. Wouldn't a pet be so cool?"

"Um, I don't know, Macy. Maybe it is."

"I-" Before Macy can say something else, Corinna pushes her off then giggles.

"Payback!" Corinna says playfully.

Macy giggles too. Ciara tries to get up, then she notices Arlenna still on the wall.

"Come here, Winnie! I'm gonna come get you." Ciara gets up and goes to Arlenna's position. She then pulls Arlenna away from the wall of the rink.

"Gracie, wait!"

"You're a brave girl, Winnie. Prove it!"

"Um, okay." Arlenna is then released by Ciara. Not long after, Macy pushes her jokingly.

Macy giggles. "Nice to see you again, Arlenna."

Arlenna smiles. She may not be very good in skating, but at least she and her fellow tributes are having fun on the last day of training.

"Dorian!" Macy calls.

 **Dorian Belcorn (18) - District 9**

Dorian rolls his eyes as he joins the four girls in the skating rink.

Macy skates to him for a hug. "You came!"

Dorian sighs. "Yes, I came." _But really, I just need to keep an eye for these two girls._

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1**

 **Annaleigh St. Cloud (17) - District 1**

 **Horden Tanase (17) - District 4**

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4**

At the slingshot station, Annaleigh and Horden leave as they notice Jeanne's invasiveness once again. It feels like deja vu for the two, since Jeanne may look like she's training, but she's snooping a bit too. Argentum is just stretching the rubber part of the slingshot, playing with it rather than training with it.

Annaleigh and Horden move to the darts station.

"Oh, careers again," says Apricot. "Good thing I'm being paid for this, but this is becoming boring."

"You can 'teach' us how to use the darts," says Horden. "We may know how to use them, but we're probably not as good as you are."

Apricot gets up. "Alright! Thanks for having me. Apricot Shard." She lets out a hand, and both of them shake it. "Where should we start?"

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

After paragliding, they have decided to go fishing.

The trainer greets, "Hi! Welcome to fishing one-oh-one. I am Polu Hokulani. Have either of you fished before?"

Both boys shake their heads. Filly doesn't go fishing with his family even though a part of District Five is surrounded by water. Thomas was always in the community home, so of course he hasn't experienced fishing too.

"Yay fishing! Okay, so fishing can be a little tricky, because sometimes it takes seconds to catch fish, while sometimes it can take hours."

Both of them nod to this.

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1**

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4**

 **Kylie Ford (16) - District 6**

 **Lainey Sash (18) - District 8**

Argentum and Jeanne are helping each other practice with the staff. Not long after, Argentum loses to Jeanne, again.

"Babe, you need to put more effort," Jeanne tells him honestly.

"I know, I know, but this is just training," says Argentum in a relaxed manner.

Jeanne sighs. Meanwhile, Kylie and Lainey are individually practicing spears.

Lainey in particular has a plan to approach these training days. Having trained with makeshift knives and spears, she planned to just polish her skills on the last day while she focuses on survival for the first few days. Little did she know that there are different ways to use knives. She probably knew that, but she just never practiced it. She never thought of it perhaps. It's a good thing she actually visited the knives station earlier this morning, to learn more about it. Now with the spear, she realizes that her stance is wrong. She starts to worry over the possibility that her training after the moment when she was first reaped might become futile, and she can only hope otherwise. At least now, with the guidance of trainers, she is able to adjust to these changes. It relieves her a bit, but it still worries her that she may have been practicing with her makeshifts wrong all this time. Old habits die hard, so she's trying to remember the proper way now.

Prutas Vy says, "No no, hold it like this, then you can throw it."

Lainey nods to this nervously. "Am I doing it right now, Tasha?"

"Yes," replies the trainer. "Now throw it, like this." She demonstrates how to throw the spear, then Lainey follows. "You're doing better! Just don't forget that." She then moves to Kylie, who is also struggling and doing things wrong.

Lainey watches Tasha teach Kylie how to properly handle a spear. She then realizes that she still doesn't have an ally, although she may not need one. She doesn't know if she should ask Kylie to ally with her. Maybe Kylie will only drag her down, or maybe they can help each other out. Lainey still has to think whether she wants Kylie as an ally or not. She is, however, the best candidate for an ally especially this late before the games.

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

At the clinic, doctors have been studying her and analyzing the results.

Doctor Michi Miracle says, "I will ask you some questions, and I want you to answer as honestly as possible."

Susie nods. She doesn't feel Kevin's presence at the moment.

"Do you tend to isolate yourself from the public, or your friends, or to anybody?"

Susie thinks, then nods.

Doctor Miracle checks something on her list. "Do you tend to feel sad for no particular reason? Or maybe it's for a reason you just don't know?"

Susie thinks longer, then nods once more.

Doc checks another item on the list. "Please wait right here and stay seated." She asks a couple of doctors and nurses around the clinic before checking another item on the list. She then returns to her seat to face Susie. "Do you tend to feel that your emotions are all over the place? Like, let's say you're reacting to things with the wrong emotions?"

Susie stares into Doctor Miracle's eyes for about a minute, before she nods.

Doc checks another item on the list. "Do you experience sleeping problems?"

Susie nods in seconds.

Doc checks again. "Do people think or see you as weird?"

Susie thinks for a while, shakes her head a bit before changing her answer with a nod.

"Last one, do you hear voices in your head and think they are real even though you never see them?"

Susie feels the goosebumps all over her body. She feels like she has gone paler in a matter of nanoseconds. Her heart rate is indescribable. _Snow. Fuck._ Her body language says it all. She doesn't even have to nod for Doc to check the last item on the list.

"Well," Doc checks the list one last time. "I can officially diagnose you with schizophrenia. Schizophrenia affects your perception of the world. It's hard for you to distinguish between fiction and reality. As an effect, you zone out and isolate yourself from reality, mainly due to fear and confusion. You think and act differently compared to most people, because you think you see or hear something even though they do not really exist."

Susie feels like she has gone paler than pale. Unable to process everything. She feels overwhelmed. Perhaps disappointed of herself? She does not know how to react to the situation anymore. _I thought all these things Kevin was telling me were real! She killed Katrina Oakley, and that was all it took to prove that he was real. But... he's not!?_

"Supposedly, therapy is the most effective way to cope with schizophrenia, but with little time remaining, I don't know how else to help you instantly."

Susie completely freezes. She stops processing things. She stops thinking. She just stares, stares at the white coat Doctor Miracle is wearing. She can't take it anymore. She doesn't know what to do at all!

 **Tira Hyde (16) - District 3**

 **Chip Tablet (13) - District 3**

At the tarmac, they find two machines right beside each other after visiting the zero-gravity station. Tira reads the instructions of the games on each screen.

"This is the pattern recognition machine, and this is the sorting machine. Our goal is to finish the game. Which would you want first, Chip?"

Chip points at the pattern one, then Tira takes the one beside it, the sorting machine.

"Orbitron," reads Tira below the screen. "This must be the company who made it!"

After a few minutes, they switch machines and try the other game.

 **Filament Harmon-Fierro (14) - District 5**

 **Thomas Barnaby (18) - District 6**

After learning how to fish, they curiously check the farming station.

"Hello!" greets Starch Gulay. "Want to learn about rules and concepts in farming? I heard there's gonna be a plantation field in the arena."

"There is?" Filly asks curiously.

"I was just informed of that. I wasn't told so much," Starch replies. He fixes his farmer's hat made of straw.

"Well, I'm interested to learn new things!" Thomas says.

Filly agrees with Thomas, "Yes, it's fun to learn new things!"

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

 **Macy Roe (12) - District 9**

"This is fun!" says Macy as she floats around a room.

"It's so cool!" says Corinna as she spills a bit of water from a glass. "How does this not happen everywhere?"

"It's all about the total gravity value, kid." Andrew is upside down meditating. "This is what it feels like to be in outer space."

"Outer space?" both girls ask.

"Up in the sky, above Earth, you can float on volumes with no gravity." Andrew tries to stand on the ceiling. "I heard a quarter quell was held in outer space."

"Really!?" asks Corinna with interest.

"Yeah, we don't really know what happened. I wasn't born yet by then. I only know the other quell with little kids."

"Who was the victor in the outer space quell?" Corinna asks with deeper interest.

"I don't know, kid. To be honest, most people say it's the biggest mystery in the history of the Hunger Games."

"Really!?" says Macy with shock.

"It's true. My parents don't know. I don't know. My grandpa doesn't know. Rumors say that even the president herself doesn't know. No books, films, or documentaries officially say who the victor was. All we know, according to books, is that the tragedy caused tributes and gamemakers to never return from outer space, but even books can be inaccurate."

Corinna thinks it may link to something she read recently. She then nods after being overwhelmed with such mystery.

 **Ciara Graceanne Westley (15) - District 5**

 **Arlenna Winnie Scott (13) - District 10**

As they leave the raft-making station, they then visit the diving station, knowing that there will be water in the arena.

"Hi! I am Om, Om Lanakila." They shake hands with Arlenna and Ciara. "Anybody here with fear of water, open water, sea creatures..."

"Gracie is afraid of drowning," says Arlenna with a bit of malice.

"Hey, it's a legit fear, Winnie!"

"Well, you won't drown here as long as you follow my instructions properly." Om gives both girls a thumbs up.

 **Dante Blackwell (14) - District 12**

 **Poppy Sennett (15) - District 11**

 **Owen Lee Bai (14) - District 11**

 **Ingeo Olefin (15) - District 8**

Dante practices the dagger on his own. He tries to keep himself isolated from the other group. He gets distracted from time to time though. He knows something is not right.

Owen whispers something in Ingeo's ear while Poppy is with the trainer, knowing where to stab the dummies in.

Dante tries to remember what the trainer told him earlier and where to stab the dummy with his dagger. He turns back after several minutes and sees Owen whispering something to Poppy while Ingeo is gone, probably to the washroom. Dante tries to mind his own business. He finds it disturbing that this group near him is becoming a weak link with this boy whispering stuff into his allies ears. He should focus on his own stuff. There's no point looking at them after all.

 **Kylie Ford (16) - District 6**

 **Rufus Cornelii (12) - District 2**

At the cold endurance room, Kylie sits in one corner thinking about something, staring into the floor. She remembers her home once again. She remembers her decisions, and she wonders if they regret those decisions or not. She remembers her first kiss. She can't get it out of her head no matter how hard she tries. It sticks there in a good way, probably. She wonders what she'll do later for the private sessions. She only has one chance to do it well. She wants to do it well. She wants the sponsors to root for someone strong, someone who has a chance.

Rufus observes her from time to time, but he's trying to sit still, excited about the private sessions later. He came from the other endurance room before going here. He's still thinking what he should really do for his private training. Maybe he should downplay? Maybe he should show his best? Maybe he should just wing it, albeit strategically? He's still thinking of the best way to get the score he thinks would give him an edge. People say there's a lot of pressure put into younger career members. He doesn't feel it, and he doesn't really know if it's a good thing or a bad thing. He'll need to weigh his decisions around to know what show he's gonna give the gamemakers later.

 **Dante Blackwell (14) - District 12**

Doctor Ishi says, "Nice to meet you, Dante. Looks like it's a one-on-one for our guide to using medical supplies. I like one-on-one conversations. It helps us both focus here."

Dante nods.

"Let's begin then!"

 **Dorian Belcorn (18) - District 9**

Clariselle van Doom says, "So... I hope you've learned something about explosives. It is likely that they will be in the arena, but keeping yourself safe... hahaha! It's the trickiest part of using explosives."

Dorian shakes the instructor's hand.

Clariselle looks around. "Pssst... since you're the first and only one to come to my station, I'll tell you something you're not supposed to know."

Dorian leans closer. "I'm listening."

Clariselle looks around again. _No drones, no cameras._ She clears her throat. "Remember any alphanumerical information that is given to you." Clariselle points at the locks station. "I suggest you go there next." She then winks in a flirty manner. She then says in a softer and whispery voice, "You're going to need it."

"Okay, thank you."

"May the odds be ever in your favor, Belcorn!"

Dorian goes to the locks station, where he sees Macy and Corinna working together. He looks at the instructions. He can tell the two girls are just guessing the answers.

 **Macy Roe (12) - Dsitrict 9**

 **Corinna Pickett (15) - District 12**

"Let me help," Dorian offers.

"Okay!" says both girls in unison.

"We can't solve the one in that corner," says Corinna.

"And also these three in the middle," adds Macy.

"I'm trying to guess this one, because the answer I thought of is actually wrong."

"Good thing you came Dorian, we've been having problems."

Dorian rolls his eyes. On the bright side, he will learn how to unlock these locks in the arena. _But wait, what do these locks really have to do with the arena?_

 **Susie Ye (17) - District 7**

 _How can I make it out of the arena alive now?_ Susie thinks, having a sudden crisis. Part of her really doesn't wanna leave the arena alive with Kevin haunting her. Part of her wants to live free with Kevin gone.

 _"Good morning again, Susie!" greets Kevin. "Did you know, this library is toxic for you. I have a job for you! Try to steal the mobile phone of the librarian. She has poor attention span and is easily distracted. Try to steal from her without getting caught."_

 _I should just die,_ Susie thinks to herself. She hesitates, whether she should do it or not.

 _"Come on! I'm not telling you to kill anyone anymore."_

"You're not real!" Susie whispers aloud. "You're not real!"

 _"If I'm not real, can I do this?"_

Susie closes her eyes and cover her ears. Nothing happens after ten or so seconds. Suddenly, a book falls off the shelf. A mere coincidence it is, but Susie still believes that Kevin exists. _How did he do that!?_

 _"Come on, Susie girl! Get the librarian's phone, and take it with you to the private session."_

She shivers at the thought of the gamemakers finding out that she possesses a mobile phone. She still thinks whether she should do it or not. Right now, she's just looking at the librarian who is busy on her tablet.

 **Argentum Montgomery (17) - District 1**

 **Annaleigh St. Cloud (17) - District 1**

 **Horden Tanase (17) - District 4**

 **Jeanne Maxima (18) - District 4**

"Can you please stop following us?" asks Annaleigh politely.

"We're not following you!" Jeanne responds. "Also, anything wrong with us following you?"

Annaleigh hesitates a bit, before responding, "No. It's just suspicious."

"You're suspicious of us!?"

"Don't mind her, Annaleigh," says Horden.

"Shut up, janitor! I'm not talking to you."

"Babe, look at me!" says Argentum as he carries some weights.

"Those are too light!" Jeanne criticizes.

"But I can carry them!"

Jeanne rolls her eyes. She sees Horden and Annaleigh working together and alternating in using the equipment in the gym.

 **Brenna O'Hare (18) - District 2**

 **Rufus Cornelii (12) - District 2**

At the simulation room, both careers work together to navigate themselves to the end of the course. If they do receive a map of the arena, navigation would be important.

"Here," points Rufus on the map.

"This way," Brenna responds softly.

Rufus tugs on her arm to another direction. He then traces the map.

Doctor Hologram observes their interesting teamwork so far. He thinks they're an odd pair, but since both of them are coming from the same district, it makes sense that both of them are working together.

 **Orion Fleming (15) - District 7**

"Attention tributes! Please proceed to the cafeteria for your lunch. Training ends now. Thank you."

Vriya Phnom tells Orion, "Well, your time is up, but you're doing pretty well." Both of them look at Orion's painted legs. "It matches the forest environment's floor."

Orion smiles. "Thanks."

"Good luck in private training, kid!"

As he gets to the cafeteria on the ground floor, he and other tributes notice the emptiness of the place.

* * *

Alistair says, "We didn't inform them to close the tarmac by eleven-thirty."

"But sir," says Sol. "Even though they got thirty extra minutes of training, the tributes at the cafeteria are now wondering where they are."

The present gamemakers notice that there's a heated conversation in the cafeteria.

Sol adds, "The tarmac kids will be marked as threats."

"Hmmm... good point, Sol. We'll have to see later how this will turn out."

Alistair and the other gamemakers in the monitoring room go to the main hall for a meeting.

"Gamemakers, now that training is over, we prepare for the private training sessions each tribute will show us. I must remind all of you the policies again. The interns will be introduced to our policies too." Alistair tells Morty to open a spreadhseet file. "As some of you might remember, this is last year's training score results. To remind you, every gamemaker, regardless of role, excluding the head, will be rating each present tribute from one to twelve. Each of your ratings is three percent of the total score. Including our guest gamemaker's score, all of you would have a total of seventy-five percent of the training score. The remaining twenty-five percent is my personal rating, as head gamemaker." Alistair tells Morty to click the spreadsheet cells to show the calculation. "Afterwards, we round off the calculated rating. We round up for .51 and above. We round down for .49 and below. In the case we get a solid .5, we will be having a vote whether the score deserves to be rounded up or down. To not cause a tie, I will be excluding myself from voting, also because I'm the head gamemaker. Is everything clear?"

"Sir! Sir!" Brenda begins. "So our rating would depend how we want to score each tribute?"

"Yes."

"So sir, this means we can give every tribute a twelve if we want to?"

"Hahaha! There's no rule saying you can't. After all, you give each tribute only three percent of your score. You see, if the majority gives a twelve, it is possible to cover up my score of - let's say an eleven."

"Ooh!" Brenda reacts. "I can give the tributes any score I want!"

"Yes, all of you can. By the way, our great guest gamemaker, Mister Niccolo Jones, was the one who proposed this idea. Please give him a round of applause."

Everybody claps and some cheer as Niccolo makes his way to the front with Alistair. "Thank you for the recognition, Alistair. It feels great to have me back. It's actually going to feel weird getting the three percent of the score."

"Hahaha! Yes, true. Better three percent than nothing though?"

"I know! I miss being here. It's also my rules that the guest gamemaker gets three percent, so all is fair!"

"It's by your rules indeed!" Alistair clears his throat then announces, "Also, I must remind everyone that each tribute gets only twelve minutes to show their skills. The remaining three minutes in their time is in case of delay, bathroom breaks, and discussion of their performances."

Some of the gamemakers chatter excitedly.

"Please have a good lunch. When we come back, it's going to be six hours straight of watching every tribute presenting their skills." Alistair and the gamemakers are excited for this part of the Hunger Games process. Yes, some tributes may be boring, but some are exciting. Part of the reason for the mix-up of training times is to avoid having the good ones crammed in the earlier times and the later ones becoming all boring. Alistair goes through the list again, and this is what's written:

13:00-13:15 - Jeanne Maxima, District 4

13:15-13:30 - Dorian Belcorn, District 9

13:30-13:45 - Ciara Westley, District 5

13:45-14:00 - Arlenna Scott, District 10

14:00-14:15 - Lainey Sash, District 8

14:15-14:30 - Annaleigh St. Cloud, District 1

14:30-14:45 - Kylie Ford, District 6

14:45-15:00 - Ingeo Olefin, District 8

15:00-15:15 - Argentum Montgomery, District 1

15:15-15:30 - Dante Blackwell, District 12

15:30-15:45 - Horden Tanase, District 4

15:45-16:00 - Kobe Bridger, District 10

16:00-16:15 - Orion Fleming, District 7

16:15-16:30 - Corinna Pickett, District 12

16:30-16:45 - Filament Harmon-Fierro, District 5

16:45-17:00 - Macy Roe, District 9

17:00-17:15 - Chip Tablet, District 3

17:15-17:30 - Tira Hyde, District 3

17:30-17:45 - Thomas Barnaby, District 6

17:45-18:00 - Rufus Cornelii, District 2

18:00-18:15 - Owen Lee Bai, District 11

18:15-18:30 - Poppy Sennett, District 11

18:30-18:45 - Susie Ye, District 7

18:45-19:00 - Brenna O'Hare, District 2

* * *

AN:

We're finally through with the training days! Tracee was right about training chapters being tiring. XD

A slight change of plans: I think I'll go on hiatus after the score reveal night instead. That way, y'all won't have to wait for the score reveal for so long. Also, at least y'all won't forget the private sessions because of the big update gap.

There are some stations the tributes visited that I never revealed in any of the training or night chapters because I didn't know how to fit them in without them looking forced. If y'all want to see the Google Sheets of the training day details, just let me know and I'll put the link somewhere in the near future.

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! :)


	35. Private Training 1: Aim of the Game

Alistair returns to the office right after lunch. He checks his watch and finds out it's almost time. Most of the gamemakers are on their seats, talking to one another or quietly waiting in place. All twenty-four of them face the front. The seats in the main hall of the headquarters are positioned in three arcs, or curved lines. The back row has ten seats. The row before it has eight. The front row has six. There's an aisle at the center, dividing both sides equally. Head Gamemaker Alistair takes his seat at the very front, facing the opposite direction from the rest of the gamemakers, supposedly. He turns his seat facing forward for the private sessions, which then makes him face the wall, right in front of where the projector is supposed to project stuff when connected to a computer. Guest Gamemaker Niccolo Jones takes the seat beside Alistair, like every other guest gamemaker did in the past.

"I miss doing this, Alistair," says Niccolo. "I'm very grateful for you inviting me back."

"Sir, I got most of my ideas from you and learned a lot from you during your time as my head gamemaker."

"I see... I'm glad to have made that impact. You sure have grown a lot as a gamemaker." Niccolo pats Alistair's back.

Alistair smiles in return, glad to have made his former boss proud. He then checks his watch again. "Gamemakers, we start in two minutes!" He gets up from his seat, turns off all the lights in the room, and turns on a switch that makes the whole room glow, or at least that's what it looks like. The environment sets in, and most of the gamemakers realize where they are.

"What just happened?" Brenda asks aloud.

Radon replies, "The room is being projected to the basement of the training center. In return, we get to see the the basement of the training center."

Brenda looks around obviously and curiously. "Wow!"

"It's where the tributes will hold their private sessions. They see us. We see them. However, there's no physical contact happening between both environments, in case a tribute pulls a stunt in killing one of us."

"Has that happened before?"

"Katniss Everdeen, if you remember from school, pulled a stunt like this, although she didn't kill any of the gamemakers that time. It's still for safety measures."

"And good use of technology?"

"Precisely."

Not long after, Genji announces through a mic, "Jeanne Maxima of District Four, please enter the room."

The tall pale-skinned girl enters the basement. She takes a look around her, and sees the gamemakers in the form of a hologram. She bows to them.

Genji plays the pre-recorded policies of the private sessions through the mic. "You have twelve minutes to present us anything you desire. May the odds be ever in your favor. You may start now." Genji starts the timer.

Jeanne looks around to see an array of weapons and objects laid out around the basement. Most of them are placed in shelves. Some of them have stations of their own. Since she starts the private sessions this year, everything is still in its proper place. The floor is still clean. Nothing is a mess yet. She scans the room and finds the bow and arrows. Someone from the control room drops a target from the ceiling. She sets her position properly and starts shooting arrows with the bow. She does so consistently and continuously, hitting the center of the target eight out of ten times. The target is then lifted back to the ceiling.

She drops the bow and gets a handful of spears this time. Five dummies, with artificial intelligence in them, come from corners of the room, where doors are placed to allow these types of dummies to enter. They slowly jog to Jeanne. She gets a spear and launches it with force to the closest dummy's chest. Once that collapses, she changes her position and launches another spear, this time to the closest dummy's head. _Two down, three to go._ Jeanne continues throwing spears to the dummies' vital areas. On the last dummy, she runs forward and sticks the spear through the dummy's stomach.

Once that's all done, she gets a pocket of throwing knives. Targets drop from the ceiling, and they move around the room - forward, backward, side to side. She finds a target and throws her first knife. It hits the bullseye of the target. She moves around the room to find the best position of her next target. She throws another knife once her position is set. It misses the bullseye by a hair. _Shit._ She continues to throw more knives as she moves around the room. She eventually gets nine out of ten targets on the bullseye.

Afterwards, Jeanne goes to one corner to show her plant identification skills. She picks the machine over the organics, answering the questions in the machine like an electronic quiz. She gets eight-three percent correctly. She intends to move to another station or get another weapon, but the buzzers sounds and she is requested to leave.

"Time is up! You may now leave the basement," says Genji through the mic.

The gamemakers all watch Jeanne leave through the elevator.

Alistair faces forward and asks, "Any insights?"

Radon says, "She should not have shown her skills with plant identification."

"Why so?"

"It's a waste of time, especially since we're not putting poison in this arena."

"She has a good enough memory at least," defends Lian. "They need good memory in the bloodbath."

Radon thinks for a while, then nods. "Acceptable."

Alistair then asks, "Anything else?"

Morty says, "She showed mostly her skills in range weapons, although she's versatile with them."

"I was actually thinking of her melee skills, which she only showed when she went for the dummy's stomach," adds Arc.

"So we can say she's versatile, but not versatile enough."

"Yes."

The gamemakers are either waiting for the time to pass or are inputting their scores for the first presentation. In the basement, the trainers clean the area for the next user. After a little while, Genji announces, "Dorian Belcorn of District Nine, please enter the room." Genji then plays the pre-recorded audio for the tall, slender, and angelic-looking boy to listen to.

Like Jeanne, Dorian bows before he starts. He firsts requests a trainer, and one of the Psi twins show up. Dorian bows before going against Density in a hand-to-hand combat. After about a minute, Dorian hurls Density to the ground. Gravity then shows up, and Dorian bows to him too before fighting with him. After two minutes, Gravity finally loses to Dorian after Dorian locks Gravity to the ground.

Dorian then tries to find a sword from the sides of the room. He can't find it, so he requests for it and is given one - a fencing sword. For this one, he requested a dummy to fight against. As usual, he bows to it before starting his fencing. He gets attacks correctly. He misses a few, probably on purpose or probably for real. He is able to block almost all the hits from the dummy. After a while, he blocks all the moves and asks for the dummy to be taken away for his next presentation.

Targets drop from the ceiling as he gets a pocket of throwing knives too. The targets are moving so he takes time to analyze where to throw his targets. Once he finds the patterns of the moving targets, he throws knife after knife on the roaming targets. In the end, he gets six out of ten on the bullseye, three out of ten on the inner ring, and one out of ten on the middle ring.

After throwing his last knife, the buzzer buzzes and Genji tells him to leave. Dorian bows one last time before entering the elevator.

Alistair faces the gamemakers, "Any insights on this one?"

Vint says, "I'm intrigued by his high level of skill for someone from a non-career district. He is able to fight with his bare hands, with melee weapons, and with range weapons."

Morty says, "I think the Psis were going easy on him."

"What makes you say that?" asks Alistair.

"The Psis are better than that, in my humble opinion."

"Dorian properly displayed his skills though," Zorro debates.

Morty doubts and disagrees to this, but he knows they all have different standards and opinions, so he just lets it slide. There comes a silence, then Morty checks his notes. "He took a lot of time to think where to hit the targets for the throwing knives. His aim is good, but he's taking his time for the hits, which may be a disadvantage later on."

Nobody accepts or rejects this idea. The trainers in the basement finish cleaning the room after a while. After a little more time, Genji announces, "Ciara Graceanne Westley of District Five, please enter the room." Once the light-brown-haired girl with above average height is in, Genji plays the pre-recorded audio. It's been useful especially for Genji since he doesn't have to repeat the same words for every single tribute.

Ciara starts with the edibles station. She gets the organic ones and sorts them to two mats. She puts all the edible plants on the left side, then the inedible ones on the right.

After sorting plants, she finds the necessary materials to make a trap. She goes to the camouflage corner of the room and selects a grassy environment for the backdrop. She puts sticks together with ropes and wires, then she eventually covers it with soil, as provided to her when she asked for the material. She gets some of the organic plants and seeds from another side of the room and creatively lay out the plants for the trap, to make it look less obvious. Once she's done, she stands up and looks at it with satisfaction.

She checks the time remaining, which is at the center of the hologram showing the gamemakers. She has less than two minutes remaining, so she picks up a pouch containing shurikens, or throwing stars. Targets drop from the ceiling, but they don't move. One by one, she throws the shurikens to the targets. It hits about half of the time. She gets one bullseye and celebrates too quickly. However, she is not able to finish all the shurikens in the pouch as her time is up, hearing the buzzer ringing.

Ciara leaves the room a bit worried, having missed a lot of targets. Out of seventeen, she missed at least ten times but got one bullseye. _Maybe I shouldn't have attempted the shurikens._ She touches her hair and worries more. However, as the elevator doors open, she plays with her hair and smiles confidently. Arlenna sees this and worries.

Before Alistair is able to ask his usual question, Sedna shares, "I like her pitfall trap. It's very simplistic yet beautiful." Nobody has a reaction to that.

Morty says, "She kept missing with the throwing stars."

"She never had career training though, so I guess it's fair," reacts Axel.

Some gamemakers input their scores already.

Celestina adds, "I don't think I saw her going to the edibles station and trying it out in any of these training days."

"She got ninety-five percent correct," says Radon. "It's a slight mistake she just forgot, from the look of her face earlier."

About a gamemaker or two use the washroom during the break. The trainers have more to clean in the basement, due to her trap and use of organics for plant identification.

"Arlenna Winnie Scott of District Ten, please enter the room." Genji prepares the pre-recorded audio, which he plays the moment tall and long-haired thirteen-year-old enters the room.

Arlenna starts with an axe. A fast dummy is launched from one side of the room. It runs towards Arlenna with a holographic axe in hand. They spar against each other with the use of axes only. After a few minutes, the holographic axe swings through Arlenna's neck, before the dummy walks back to where it came from. _Dammit._

Arlenna decides to pick another weapon. It's the most basic weapon, a knife. Another dummy approaches her with a holographic knife this time. The duel last for a few minutes again. Eventually, Arlenna got the dummy by its stomach. It collapses, and she picks another station. _What can I show from the tarmac?_

Arlenna does nothing for a good thirty seconds, thinking what to do next. Eventually, she requests for the conveyor belt to be turned on. It appears, and she starts jogging. After a while, some dummies join her, for her to race against them. She continues this until the buzzer sounds.

"Time is up! You may now leave the basement." Genji sips from his tea after announcing it through the mic. "She failed during the axe fight."

"We all saw that," Deck agrees. "At least she made it up with the running?"

"Speed seems to her strongest quality," responds Celestina. "We keep seeing that."

"How about the knife fight?" asks Cress. "I think it was okay."

"She got the dummy on the right spot at the right time," says Al. "She could still lose on a knife fight, however."

Sol remarks, "She's not very good with weapons, but if she can run, then she can get away from trouble."

"Do we want that for the show?" Axel asks.

"It depends," replies Sol. "The Games today isn't all about fighting."

Some gamemakers take some time to think of a score. Others input their scores quickly.

Genji says, "Lainey Sash of District Eight, please enter the room."

Not long after, the brown-haired fair-skinned girl arrives. She listens to the pre-recorded instructions audio, which she or any of the other tributes couldn't differentiate from a live announcement from the gamemaker.

Lainey starts with a pocket of regular knives. One dummy comes out from each of the four corners of the room. They walk slowly to her, so she runs to one of them and tries to stab it with a knife, but it wasn't that easy. The dummy was equipped with enough intelligence to know how to dodge her attacks. She tries to slash at it while correcting her positioning based on what she learned earlier. She misses several times until she gets to the leg. By this time, at least two other dummies are less than a meter away from her. She pushes the injured dummy to one of the approaching dummies, then she grabs another knife to fight the other approaching dummy. She quickly gets it by the throat, stabbing it eventually.

The two dummies nearby slowly approach her. She grabs the uninjured one, but it quickly escapes her. She tries again, and again, and again, until she goes for a different strategy, punching it in the stomach first before stabbing it through its back. She throws a knife to the dummy whose leg she injured. _Crap. Oops._ _It's not a throwing knife. I forgot._ The dummy receives the weapon instead of getting harmed. She quickly goes around to stab the dummy from the back.

The fourth dummy is not approaching Lainey. She runs to it with two knives in hand, but it rotates its position a bit, and she misses it completely. She tries diving into the dummy with two knives still in hand, but she keeps missing it. She then kicks the dummy from the side, knocking it off. Finally, she gets both knives to the sides of the dummy.

She realizes that she has a little amount of time left. She gets a spear, and one dummy from the corner of the room runs to her immediately with a holographic spear in hand. She spars with the dummy at the center of the room. After a few minutes, she disarms the dummy and stabs it at its stomach. Before she is able to pull out the spear and continue on other parts of the dummy, the buzzer sounds and Lainey is requested to leave.

"She's not your usual non-career tribute," says Ethyl. "I like her to be honest."

Sedna adds, "Her way of fighting is very entertaining. At least I think it would be entertaining to the audience."

"I can agree with the entertainment," Zorro starts. "However, she makes a lot of mistakes that can cost her these games."

"To add to that, she shouldn't have thrown the knife to one of the dummies," says Iota. "She knows how to use knives, not throwing knives!"

"I beg to differ, but I think she dragged the show for too long that she was not able to show us anything else," Jom adds. "I think I got bored, a little bit."

"For an outlying district tribute, she has potential and has above average skills," inputs Ylvia.

The gamemakers do their scoring and the trainers do their cleaning. Not long after, Genji announces, "Annaleigh St. Cloud of District One, please enter the room."

The career with turquoise eyes and dirty blonde hair enters the room. The pre-recorded audio is played once again, giving Annaleigh the signal to start.

She starts with a bow, before getting the bow and arrows from one of the shelves around the room. Targets drop from the ceiling. She shoots two arrows to each of the five targets. She consistently hits one arrow in each bullseye and one arrow in each inner ring. The targets are hoisted back up, but she now requests for moving targets, as she gets more arrows from the shelves. With the movements in low speed and Annaleigh staying on her position, she shoots a moving target's bullseye. She waits again without moving to shoot the next bullseye. She does this three more times, before she requests for the speed to be increased. She shoots within the inner rings this time, but gets one arrow on the middle ring.

When her arrows are finished, the targets are lifted back to the ceiling. She gets darts this time as new targets are dropped from the ceiling. She takes some time to focus on her aim properly. She remembers what the trainer told her earlier this morning regarding darts. She hits the five bullseyes once again as she maintains her focus. She requests for the targets to move, and she hits the inner rings again. This time it is consistent without any arrows on the middle rings.

Annaleigh gets more darts but notices that she only has forty-five seconds left on the clock. She tries to focus her aim for at least one of the inner rings. After that, she drops the dart gun. "May I have a score two points lower from what I am supposed to receive?"

There are too many gamemakers looking at one another, reacting questioningly to that request. Alistair responds, "We will think about it." The buzzer sounds, so she bows before leaving.

"Interesting..." says Nic. "We've had downplayers before, right Alistair?"

Alistair replies, "Yes, careers like her just don't like getting a score too high as they are afraid of being marked as a threat by their allies. Unfortunately for tributes like her, they do not know that we follow a system, so it is still your own decision if you wanna downgrade her score or not."

There's a short pause before someone is able to share an opinion.

"Did she shoot the inner rings on purpose on her second arrows? Because I find it very consistent," says Al.

"She missed it once by hitting the middle ring," Genji tells him.

Jom says, "I don't know if I'm satisfied with what she showed us, since there's a lack of variety."

"I personally dislike tributes asking us gamemakers to change their score like that or request for a particular score," says Vint. "It's not fair, and there shouldn't be any exceptions even though she's a career."

"For a career, I think she's considered decent enough, in my opinion," shares Lirlina.

Some gamemakers are okay with Annaleigh's request. Others don't plan on following it. A few plan to inflate her score to mess with the calculated final score, to spite her and her request.

"Kylie Ford of District Six, please enter the room."

The girl with tan skin and raven black hair enters the room. After the pre-recorded audio is played, Kylie runs to the knife station, or find a pocket of knives rather, which took her some time since she doesn't find it immediately. Four dummies enter the room, one from each corner. Kylie waits at the center instead of running to one of them. When all of them are close enough, she holds two knives and spins in the best way she can. It injures half of the dummies, but it also makes her a bit dizzy. As she bends down, she goes for the legs instead. She slashes a dummy's legs and then kicks another's. The dummies are still surrounding her. Their artificial intelligences are not programmed to 'kill' her after all. A fifth dummy comes from one corner of the room. This one runs to the center with a holographic knife, and Kylie notices this, so she rolls out of the mess. The four other dummies slowly move back. The newest dummy runs to Kylie and gets her by her hip. No pain is felt, but it shows her loss in the fight. _Shit!_

Kylie gives up on the knives and instead asks for the conveyor belt to show her speed and agility. She races against the four dummies she fought with earlier. It becomes boring to watch for the gamemakers after a few minutes. Unfortunately, two minutes are still left on the clock, and Kylie doesn't know what else she can show them without messing up like that. Even without planning on messing up, the dummies' speeds pick up, and by the time the buzzer sounds, one dummy beat her in the race. Genji hasn't said anything but she runs to the elevator and leaves in panic. She covers her face with her hands, holding back tears. _I screwed up. I screwed up!_

"Well, that was very uneventful," says Vint bluntly.

Toria says, "I felt my soul leaving my body a few seconds before the timer ended."

"That was terrible," says Jom. "Words can't describe my disappointment."

"At least she tried?" brings up Lian.

"Not to us gamemakers," says Nova. "She's not gonna pass whatever score she wanted at first."

"From the looks of things, I guess it wasn't that bad, but she probably just got too nervous for this," Brenda adds.

Some gamemakers think of what score they want to give before they do so. Others have set their mind during the moment of boredom.

"Ingeo Olefin of District Eight, please enter the room."

"It's a boy this time!"

"Finally!"

The pale-skinned boy enters the room and listens to the pre-recorded instructions audio. Afterwards, he looks around the room for a minute, indecisively thinking of what to show the gamemakers. In panic, he picks the edible plants instead. He sorts them between two mats. When he's done, he's still indecisive, so he goes for edible insects this time. Afterwards, he still doesn't know where to go, so he sorts edible seeds this time. When he's done, he doesn't want to sort another set of edible or inedible stuff. He reluctantly leaves his place.

He goes to the fire-making station and tries to start a fire with two rocks. Immediately after, he looks like he is giving up. _I can't risk it in case it doesn't start._ With that, he looks at the clock and goes for ropes instead. He requests for a dummy without artificial intelligence. He then ties up the limbs of the dummy in a very intricate manner. He starts with the legs, then he goes for the hands but doesn't finish with the sound of the buzzer.

"Time is up! You may now leave the basement."

Ingeo leaves the basement nervously. He does not know what score to expect. For now, at least it's done. He can relax at least, for now.

"The kid is indecisive," says Morty.

"He just abandoned his fire like that!?" reacts Zorro violently. "Quite unacceptable."

"For a regular district kid, I'll say he's average," says Xylev. "Better than showing us nothing or screaming at us."

"His sorts were accurate. He scored above ninety in all three sorting, and we do have a sorting machine in the tarmac," says Radon.

"True!" agrees Sol. "The ropes were okay. Even if he didn't finish tying up the dummy's hands, he still did it well enough."

The trainers finish cleaning the area right before the next tribute is called in.

"Argentum Montgomery of District One, please enter the room."

The tall, muscular, dark blonde guy enters the room with a smile fading into a smug.

"You have twelve minutes to present us anything you desire. May the odds be ever in your favor. You may start now."

Argentum starts with a flex, hoping to get the gamemakers nut over him. Well, it works for some of them at least. He first gets a spear and spars with a fast dummy. The combat does not end quickly, as Argentum blocks attacks from his opponent and vice versa. His attacks don't get through for so long, that he just dropped the spear at one point then wrestled the dummy with his bare hands and his huge body. He wrestles the struggling dummy. The trainers expect him to leave it alone and then move to the next weapon or station, but he lets the dummy struggle more before he attempts to rip its head off its body. When he realizes he can't do this, he gets both his spear and the dummy's holographic spear and then stabs them on the dummy repeatedly and alternately between the two spears. Since this is a dummy with artificial intelligence, it doesn't die. The dummy still moves, and Argentum continues to stab it. After so much time, the trainers in the control room decides to use the emergency switch for the dummy's artificial intelligence, tricking Argentum to thinking it is dead. The mutilated dummy is then left alone by Argentum.

Argentum then asks for multiple dummies to be called out and the conveyor belt to be activated. He gets a pocket of knives in the process. As he runs on the conveyor belt to show his agility, the dummies race with him. _I don't like competitors though!_ Argentum turns around and tackles into two dummies. He stabs both dummies repeatedly, one with his left hand and one with his right. Eventually, his non-dominant hand got tired, so he dropped the other knife and focuses on stabbing one dummy with his dominant hand instead. He then chases the other two dummies he was not able to tackle, and he chases them successfully. He goes for the neck, but the buzzer puts his private session to a halt.

"Time is up! You may now leave the basement."

Argentum enters the elevator with a flex. Some gamemakers notice the dramatic closing of the elevator doors while Argentum's back is facing his audience.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" laughs Sol. "Oh my Snow." He wipes his tears of laughter. "That was incredible."

"It was entertaining, in the way he enters and exits, as well as the way that he is willing to torture others to put on a great show," comments Cassine.

Cress adds, "He knows how to kill and he knows how to charm for sponsors."

"For someone who was mostly lazy during the training days, this is not what I expected from him," Iota shares.

Sedna inputs, "This is an art. He had a remarkable entrance and exit. He's healthy and hot." Other gamemakers react to that comment, and Sedna winks to them. "I think he will attract sponsors and increase ratings."

"Hey guys, don't forget that this is not all the Hunger Games is all about," Morty reminds everyone else.

After the trainers have cleaned up the basement, Genji notices that they are a few seconds behind the schedule. "Dante Blackwell of District Twelve, please enter the room."

The small boy with olive skin and dark gray eyes enters the basement. After listening to the instructions which are pre-recorded, he walks around the room to find at least one wire. It doesn't take him long to build a snare. Once he's done, he is given a dummy for testing. As the gamemakers watch, the snare works! Dante can't remember the last time he had a problem building snares, so this is a piece of cake.

Unfortunately, it's too short of a show if he shows them just this. Therefore, he goes to the camouflage station and starts painting himself. He does so carefully without taking too much time. He does not want to bore the gamemakers. Perhaps a part of him wants to see the gamemakers' reactions. Currently, he should be focusing on painting himself though. He paints just one of his legs, because he also has to wash it off later, and he doesn't want to bore the gamemakers. He stays there for about fifteen seconds, giving the gamemakers enough time to look at it.

 _Now I don't know what to do._ He gets a pocket of knives. No. He drops the pocket of knives and picks up just one of the knives in the pocket. A dummy is requested from one corner of the room. It moves slowly but it has a holographic knife with it. Dante waits for it to approach him. When it is close enough, he uses his size and goes under, cutting through the dummy's crotch. The dummy falls as a reaction. Dante raises his knife and punches it to the dummy's chest.

He checks the clock to see that he still has time. He gets a bow and a quiver of arrows. He is given five targets, but when the trainer in control realizes that he's only focusing on one, the other four targets are lifted up. Dante prepares to shoot, but he shakes. The arrow simply falls to the ground as it barely moves forward. He tries again, and it falls again. He puts his bow sideways, turning it into a pseudo-crossbow. Now, the arrow is on top of the handle of the bow. As he launches the arrow forward though, it misses the target completely. He tries again, and it misses again. He keeps trying, but nothing reaches the target.

Soon, he hears the buzzer's alarm, signaling his time being up.

"Time is up! You may now leave the basement."

Dante enters the elevator and leaves the room.

"I like the crotch attack!" says Ylvia. "It's very smart of him."

Zorro counters, "The A.I. used is a low-leveled A.I. Depending who he'll be fighting with, it may be a different situation. Although, he did make a smart move there."

Sedna says, "I like the camouflage, or painting. He's the first to do it, and he did it well."

"He's versatile," comments Al. "But he's not too versatile. He's the type of tribute with enough skills and flaws to balance out his character."

"Hey!" Genji reacts. "Make sure it's relevant."

"It is!" replies Sol.

"We all have to admit he can't use bow and arrows," says Lirlina. "If someone sponsors him that, it will be the death of him, and I'm willing to place my money on that if I could."

"Agree with that," says Ethyl. "The snare was good though."

"The snare may or may not work depending on which part of the arena he is in," inputs Vint. "He did it with ease though."

Gamemakers now use this time to score Dante while trainers use this time to clean up the basement.

"Horden Tanase of District Four, please enter the room."

As the tanned red-haired boy is called in, the audio for the instructions is played. He listens to it, then he starts his session.

He looks for the spears quickly and orders a horde of dummies all at once. Multiple dummies run to him from each of the four corners of the room. Some dummies just run to him unarmed. Others are equipped with either a knife or a spear. As if he's a god or something, he takes on multiple dummies at the same time by tricking them to think he would attack in the predictable way. Instead, he faces one direction then skewers the dummies on the opposite direction. He ducks and rolls out of the mess, skewering a few more dummies in the process. For dummies with weapons, he tries to disarm them. After some time, he can't manage it and requests for the dummies to be taken away.

He puts his spear back and then gets a trident and looks for a net instead. The net takes him a while to find, so he just requests for one from the trainers behind the scenes. He requests for ten dummies, an amount he can manage. He walks towards a corner with three dummies. His trident is in hand, but he falsely throws his net at them. Unfortunately, since the artificial intelligence doesn't let them react to surprise, the dummies continue moving forward, jabbing Horden once. He then uses his trident to skewer the first dummy's head. The other dummies are approaching though, so he intends to use his net on them. _But wouldn't that be too predictable?_ Instead, he throws the first dummy to their direction. The other two dummies, he wraps their heads with the net, then he pushes them forward to the horde of seven standing dummies. He uses the two dummies as a shield, then he uses his trident to attack the horde with the gaps from his shield. In the end, he skewers his shield with a spear he grabs nearby. A dummy gets up from the fallen horde, so Horden takes out another spear and uses that and his trident to stab the last dummy standing.

He looks at the time and notices that he still has a little over two minutes remaining. He picks up the net he used earlier and packs a few dummies in it, whatever fits. Once he has enough on the net, he drags the dummies around with his strength, ready to toss them all in one direction. He still has a few seconds left, but he gives the gamemakers a signal to let them know he is done.

"Thank you. You may now leave the basement."

With that, Horden exits the level.

"He was probably a bit too confident at first?" asks Morty.

Cassine replies, "Probably. Maybe he didn't expect that level of difficulty."

"Mutts can come individually or as a pack," reminds Vint.

Arc shares, "His strategy is attacking in an unexpected way. He doesn't surge forward. He doesn't attack without thinking."

"Versatility-wise?" starts Jom.

"We didn't see him use range weapons," says Lian. "But that might not matter since tributes don't always need weapons to become victors."

After the trainers have cleaned up the mess at the basement, as well as the gamemakers finishing their ratings for the previous tribute, the next tribute is called in by Genji.

"Kobe Bridger of District Ten, please enter the room."

The short boy with shaggy black hair enters with a glare to the direction of the gamemakers. Some find him cute. Some find him fierce. Some find him simply unfriendly and anti-social. He hears the audio giving him instructions, but he ignores it and looks for items from the shelf. Regardless, Genji starts the timer.

Kobe starts by sorting the edible plants. He puts the edible ones on the mat on the left, then the one on the right contains the inedible plants. He mixes a few things up, and tends to switch items to the other side, to and fro. When he's sure, he leaves it and picks up a dagger.

Two dummies dash towards him from adjacent corners. He runs into one of them with a battle cry. He stabs one of them with the help of his speed, but he realizes that he accidentally cut himself in the process, albeit just slightly, so it doesn't bleed. The other dummy jabs his holographic dagger to Kobe's hip, and he pulls out the dagger from the other dummy and swings it to the back of the dummy he's currently fighting.

He throws the dagger across the room like a boomerang and proceeds to the trap-making station. He builds something with a net, a rope, and a wire. He gets a knife to help him cut the rope. He focuses on putting the rope together with the net to make the trap. He has a dummy for testing, and he realizes that the trap doesn't work. He fixes it again, but before he can continue, the buzzer signals his time to leave.

"Time is up! You may now leave the basement."

"NO! I'm not yet done!" Kobe continues to work on his trap.

Genji sighs, then turns on the mic. "Trainers, kindly take the child to higher ground. Give him new toys, or make sure he plays outside under the sun. Thanks."

"NO! You can't make me! I said I'm NOT YET DONE! WHAT FUCKING PART OF THAT DO YOU NOT UNDERSTAND!?"

Sooner than later, five trainers surround Kobe. Vilnius Heilong ties Kobe's feet while Ivory Tower ties his hands.

"HEY! HEY! YOU CAN'T JUST DO THAT!" He struggles as the trainers also struggle in tying him up, but there were more of them. "I SAID I'M NOT YET DONE! LET ME OUT!"

"We are letting you out," says Lorelei Anderside. "You can't stay here."

"THAT'S NOT WHAT I FUCKING MEANT! LET ME GO! LET ME FUCKING GO! I SAID LET ME GO YOU FUCKTARDS!"

As a Psi twin presses the elevator button, the other Psi twin holds the elevator doors. Lorelei, Vilnius, and Ivory carry the tied up Kobe out of the basement.

"FUCK YOU ALL! FUCK YOU! YOU HAVE NO FUCKING RESPECT-" are his last words heard by the gamemakers, as the elevator doors have closed.

"That was lit!" snorts Toria, followed by laughter.

Axel says, "Honestly, he will help boost the ratings depending on the audience. Tributes like him give very mixed opinions, mixed views, mixed ratings."

"He's quite the wild boy," says Cassine.

Lirlina replies, "I wanna see him in a jungle AU."

"The dagger part wasn't bad," comments Al.

"The time extension might be a red flag though?" Iota wonders.

Niccolo ends, "Really, his score won't matter to the audience. He has a bad reputation ever since his reaping, and nobody can change that anymore."

Some gamemakers take a washroom break. Others are still deciding on Kobe's score.

"Gamemakers, we are halfway through with the private sessions!" Alistair announces. "Hope you are all doing well. If you need caffeine, we have coffee and tea in the pantry. Just a gentle reminder in case you're sleepy."

The gamemakers still do not know the final scores of the twelve tributes so far. They have twelve more to go before they'll be allowed to view the official scores of all the tributes.


	36. Private Training 2: Surprise!

The twenty-six gamemakers are still in the room, having their very short ninety-second break, since Kobe took up the other half by being disobedient. Genji checks his watch and announces with the help of the mic, "Orion Fleming of District Seven, please enter the room."

The muscular dark-skinned boy enters the room. He looks around a bit, then waves to the gamemakers casually.

Genji plays the pre-recorded policy audio file through the mic. "You have twelve minutes to present us anything you desire. May the odds be ever in your favor. You may start now." Genji then starts the timer.

Orion jogs to the axe on the shelf, which he finds immediately. He orders a large chunk of wood instead of a dummy. He chops the wood slowly but steadily. He tries to cut the wood as straight as he can, but it side-slices a bit sometimes. He chops the wood to manageable sizes and chops enough to make at least five bonfires. He puts the axe back on the shelf.

From there, he requests for the climbing wall and the conveyor belt. He jogs casually at the beginning, but when the dummies join him, he runs faster and eventually clings onto the wall. He climbs the wall without a safety gear, but Capitol technology won't allow him to get himself killed or injured for falling from a height. After all, he is from District Seven, the district abundant of trees. When there are trees, then there has to at least be some climbers. The trainers and gamemakers are aware that not everyone from Seven can climb. Regardless, Orion climbs his way to the top as fast as he can. He takes his time, but he's not too slow when it comes to climbing. Some would consider that climbing speed above average already.

He then gets down slowly. The conveyor belt switches directions, so now he's jogging the other way around from earlier. When he returns to his wood, he gets enough to make bonfire. He rubs two pieces of wood, but with only fifteen seconds remaining, he just tries to do it for the rest of the time he has left.

"Time is up! You may now leave the basement," Genji says through the mic.

Orion drops the pieces of wood he was rubbing. He enters the elevator and waves goodbye to the gamemakers. Before the elevator doors close though, he dabs for an exit.

"He's physically fit!" Ethyl exclaims.

"What he showed us may all become useful when he reaches the arena," says Radon. "I like how he didn't just sort plants, since he's from Seven."

Deck says, "His cheeriness is going to get him sponsors. I like how he's waving to us even though we don't respond to him."

"Did you see that dab at the end!?" Brenda says aloud. "That was quite a remarkable exit!"

"He is capable with a weapon, with speed, with climbing, and probably survival too but we didn't get to see that," says Nova.

"He showed us something different so far, and I like uniqueness when it comes to private sessions," Celestina shares.

Lian adds, "My favorite part was when he was climbing the wall without any hesitation or difficulty. We can be sure he isn't afraid of heights, right?"

"Perhaps so!" responds Arc.

The trainers clean up the basement and the gamemakers decide on the scores for the next couple of seconds.

"Corinna Pickett of District Twelve, please enter the room."

The skinny and fair-skinned girl with brown hair enters the room and hears the instructions from Genji's voice, pre-recorded. She starts looking around for a good few seconds, then she goes with the first aid kit, something she's confident she can do. She asks for an "injured" dummy, then she inspects its injuries. She finds a cut on the leg. She then looks for the necessary items to fix the cut. It takes up some of her time, but she gets it done too. Next, she finds a "burnt area" on the arm, so she fixes that too. When she's done, she gives the dummy one more overall check, before she checks the time.

With one-third of the total time remaining, she walks around and tries to think of what to do next. At least for her, walking around to look for what to do is better than staring at the shelves, as it may bore the gamemakers. She finds nothing for a good couple of seconds, so she goes back to where she found the spear. She gets it and requests for a dummy without artificial intelligence. She also asks for three targets to be brought down and more spears for her to throw. _I have to show them that I can at least try using a weapon even though I never career trained with the spear._ She throws one spear, two spears, three spears at the dummy. None of those spears hit the dummy, so she moves closer. She throws another spear, and then a fifth, then her sixth. At least for her sixth, she hits the dummy's arm even though it doesn't go through the arm completely. She then moves closer again, this time using the spear as a melee weapon. She goes for the heart on her seventh spear, the neck on her eighth, the head on her ninth, and the crotch on her tenth. She returns to where the rest of the spears are left, then she throws to the targets this time. In twenty-five seconds, she throws one spear towards the direction of each target, but all of them miss. She sees one second remaining, and then she is told to leave. She causally waves goodbye too before entering the elevator.

Xylev starts, "I like what she did with the first-aid kit. She's the first to do that and she did it well. Yvette taught her well."

"I have to agree with Xylev," adds Ethyl. "I trust his medical knowledge since he has a medical background."

"I used to be the one guiding filmmakers for the right medicine for a certain disease or injury during the preparation process," adds Xylev.

"That's actually cool, so Xylev is valid," says Al. "As for her spear skills, you can see her trying to aim, but she can't for the most part."

Cress responds, "At least she tried to use a weapon, so she's not completely helpless. Besides, she's not a career."

"My favorite part was when she aimed for almost the right places when she used the spear for melee," comments Arc. "The head's the only part I'm doubting, since the skull might be too hard for her to penetrate."

"It's just that the dummies do not have skulls," says Zorro.

"Indeed!" Arc ends.

The gamemakers now use this time to grade her performance. Soon after, the next tribute is called in.

Genji says, "Filament Harmon-Fierro of District Five, please enter the room."

The skinny boy with shaggy reddish copper hair enters with a wave. The pre-recorded instructions get played, then his session starts.

He starts with the ropes. He gets a nearby tent that has already been set, and he uses the ropes to tighten the tent in its place. Once he's done, he gets another rope to make a simple trap. He ties it to make a loop on one end, then the middle of the rope is hanging from above, as he requested for a hook. He then requests for a dummy to be placed on the rope's hole. Tha Tau brings one without intelligence in, and they place its arm on the hole made from the rope. Filly pulls the rope and the dummy's arm is caught.

He then moves on to sorting berries, the organic ones. He puts the edible ones on the left, and on the right are the inedible or poisonous berries. Such are holly, spinefruit, yew, midnitium, nightlock, shadowburgh, and rochexic. Fortunately for everyone, none of those berries will exist in this year's arena. He then requests for a water bottle, some syringes, and gloves. With the gloves, he squeezes the berries and forces enough juice into the syringes. He forgets to ask for mortar and pestle, but he does so too to crush the berries efficiently. He puts the crushed pieces and juice of the berries into the bottle. He asks for water and juice powder, to make it into an actual drink and one that looks appetizing. He is shaking the bottle while he hears the buzzer.

"Time is up! You may now leave the basement," Genji says. "Oh, and don't forget to leave the bottle."

Filly carefully places the bottle on the mat where the inedible berries were. He waves to the gamemakers one more time before he enters the elevator and leaves the basement.

Radon dramatically pounds his book on the table for attention. "What he did with the tent will be useful if he's not seeking refuge from any of the stunt people! I love that he showed rope skills with stabilizing the shelters."

"Our twelve planned disasters are not all going to be that weak to the tent though," points out Deck.

"Yeah," agrees Radon. "But still, it keeps his shelter stable."

"His knowledge in poisonous berries is interesting, even though we won't have any of that in the arena," Xylev says.

"Would it be sponsorable though?" asks Brenda.

"NO!" says Ylvia. "We screen what we want to send the tributes. No poisonous berries!"

"We will allow some poisonous food though," says Deck. "But it really depends."

Toria shares, "Am I the only one who noticed how he tried to use his gloves to crush the berries?"

"It was impractical," comments Alistair. "At least he thought of the mortar and pestle."

"He put some inedible food on the edibles mat by the way," adds Lirlina. "At least he knows which berries are really poisonous."

After the gamemakers have rated and the trainers have cleaned the basement, the next tribute is called in.

"Macy Roe of District Nine, please enter the room." Genji flips his notebook to take more notes.

"OMG," comments Cress.

"This is the kid who cut herself," says Iota aloud.

As the gamemakers murmur to one another about what happened, they see the little girl with dark brown hair tied in pigtails skipping out of the elevator as it opens. She waves to the gamemakers, like the tributes before her.

"What's with all these waves?" wonders Jom, weirdened out.

"They're just being friendly, Jom," Ylvia answers.

"Hi! I'm Macy." She continues to wave to the gamemakers.

"You have twelve minutes to present us anything you desire. May the odds be ever in your favor. You may start now."

Macy looks around. She skips to the shelf and picks up two pieces of wood and tries to rub them together. She keeps trying for three minutes before she drops them and skips off to another station.

This time, Macy gets a tent. She requests for a trainer too. Macy hides in the tent while Wendy Scrolle waits outside. After a while, Macy pops her head out and says, "BOO!" The gamemakers have various reactions to it. Some are rolling their eyes. Others are tilting their heads. Someone actually laughs. Macy tells Wendy, "My mentor said I can show the gamemakers anything I want!" Wendy then smiles at Macy's sweetness and innocence, but she knows deep inside it's not good for Macy to show them just 'BOO!'

Macy then requests for ice and skating boots. It is generated on where the conveyor belt is supposed to be. She calls another trainer. Head Trainer Amillea joins her, but without skating boots. Macy starts skating on the ice conveyor belt. Amillea eventually joins Macy on the conveyor belt, then she pushes Amillea off. "Oopsies!" The gamemakers are making the same varied reactions again. Macy then tells the conveyor belt to stop, so the trainer in control makes it stop. She runs off to Amillea and helps her up, then gives her a hug.

"AWWW!" reacts Brenda. "This is the best session yet! I was super entertained!"

Macy then runs around with three trainers she requested. They're just running around the room playing tag. She throws random weapons and items here and there to avoid getting caught.

Genji is rolling his eyes, but he sees ten seconds left on the clock. "Time is up! You may now leave the basement." He puts his hand on his forehead, looking stressed. He puts the mic away. "I lost a few brain cells there."

Macy runs to the elevator. Before the doors close, she waves to the gamemakers again. "GOODBYE!"

"SHE'S TOO SWEET FOR THESE GAMES!" Brenda exclaims.

"She's not getting a score!" rages Jom.

"She did nothing useful," says Nova.

"She did!" argues Al. "The ice skating may or may not become useful depending on Eltha's call for climates."

"She was hesitant in what to show us," says Lian.

"With what she said about her mentor telling her that, I think she went against the locks and spear she touched for a second," says Celestina. "She didn't do well there."

"It would've been interesting if someone showed us how to use the locks though," says Niccolo. "So far, nobody attempted it."

Cress says, "I gotta say her agility is quite good with how she played tag with those trainers."

"I feel so offended she's using the trainers to play tag with her," adds Axel.

"It's an art. She's having fun." Sedna sips some tea from her teacup.

The trainers quickly clean the mess Macy made during the three-minute break. The gamemakers watch them do so after rating her.

Genji calls, "Chip Tablet of District Three, please enter the room."

The short skinny boy with messy brown hair fixes his eyeglasses as he listens to the instructions from the pre-recorded audio. When it's done, he plays an algorithm in his head and thinks, _How do I show the gamemakers that my odds aren't bad? What should I show them? Should I do something like the simulation? What about the simulation on the fifth floor? Can I use that? How about the tarmac!? I should give them something from the tarmac._

The gamemakers start getting bored just staring at Chip staring into the hologram. He eventually moves and requests for the simulation room on the fifth floor. He is given a virtual reality headset, which is projected to a side-screen for the gamemakers to see. For now, it is pitch black, but he requests an outer space theme as well as zero-gravity on the room. Some gamemakers are triggered. Others are impressed. Chip shows how he's "swimming" in space. After a while, he requests the scene to be water instead of space. This time while still in zero-gravity, he swims like how he was taught by the trainer in the pool. He keeps swimming, but he thinks, _How do I show them my knowledge with the simulations? What specific background will I request? What specific enemies or mutts do I request?_ It is then that he realizes that the games have a lot of possible outcomes, thus he is unable to come up with an idea for the actual simulation he intended to show. He requests to have zero-gravity turned off. He then takes off his headset as well.

He looks around the shelves and goes around the room to check everything. He then picks the one that interests him the most. It happens to also be the one that might increase his chances, aside from the zero-gravity.

"Holy shit," comments Sol.

Chip takes a bunch of bags and cases with him. He starts with the large luggage that is locked like how a briefcase is locked without a serial number. He find two notes inside it. One with a full instruction and one with an emoji. He then goes for the mini vault that is not really a vault since it can be carried around. He follows the instructions from the previous case. He turns the wheel counterclockwise three times until it reaches the number three. He then turns it clockwise to the number ninety, then the vault unlocks. There is a part of a note inside, and it has a key to it. He uses the key to unlock another case. It contains the last part of the partial notes from the first two cases. He puts all three together and thinks what it could mean. After a minute or two, he requests for a bottle of water and pours it on the three remaining locked cases. One of them opens, and he retrieves another note. He moves on to the briefcase and unlocks with a digital screen asking for a voice activation. He checks on the notes he collected, then says, "Ah." The digital screen gives him a big red X. He clears his throat and then screams with his nasally high-pitched voice. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" The briefcase's digital surface gives him a red smile before the briefcase opens. He is then given a riddle on the note. He reads and analyzes it, but his time is up with the sound of the buzzer!

"Time is up! You may now leave the basement."

Chip hesitantly leaves the basement. _It's the last case._ As he enters the elevator, he thinks of the solution.

"Now THAT is what I want to see!" says Jom.

"Jom, you can't expect everyone to know about the tarmac," Cassine inputs.

Al says, "I think given a little more time, he would be able to figure out the riddle and open the last case."

"He was so close!" adds Iota. "I wanted to see him finish it, but we're on a strict schedule."

"That is correct," replies Niccolo. "What he did for five out of six cases was impressive. I never thought he'd do the voice part since we rarely hear from him based on the tapes of his footages."

Axel comments, "He was boring at first."

Ylvia states, "He knows how to swim, on air and on water."

"It'd be fun to see him swim on lava!" Sol jokes.

The gamemakers decide on their personal scores for Chip. Luckily this time for the trainers, cleaning is minimal.

"Tira Hyde of District Three, please enter the room."

The small and petite girl with dark brown eyes and black hair makes a pseudo-salute for an entrance. She is given the instructions to listen to, then the start signal at the end of it.

The impression the gamemakers are getting from her is good so far, since she seems to have decided what she wants to do. She gets a spool of wire and a wire cutter from the toolbox. She requests for a vernier caliper, a six-inch ruler, and a meter stick. Once she receives them, she uses the measuring tools interchangeably to measure the wires. She also asks for a battery while she's cutting wire. It takes her a few minutes to set up. She measures then cuts more wire. She uses tape in the process. She gets a couple of tools out as well. At one point, she uses the metal vernier caliper to test her creation. She checks the time and sees that she took up ten minutes already. Fortunately, the masterpiece is working properly. She goes around the room and throws in a bunch of metal objects, mostly weapons, around the basement. She does so quickly then gets the meter stick. She makes an approximate measurement then kicks the metal objects towards her creation one by one. The kicked metal objects accelerate towards her masterpiece. They eventually pile up into a big mess, but it's all together. Tira then requests for three dummies with artificial intelligence to collect the objects from the magnetic masterpiece. They do so and get shocked by electric wires attached to the trap.

The buzzer rings and Tira gives her pseudo-salute once more. She is then told to leave, so she enters the elevator and waves to the gamemakers from there.

"That was super cool!" comments Vint. "You don't see that from every Three tribute."

"I agree with Vint. This girl knows more than the average," Lian adds.

Jom says, "I was hoping for more variety, but that was creative."

"It's actually interesting when you think about it," shares Zorro. "She may have taken a lot of time to build the trap, but she made an electromagnetic field to pull metallic objects from others within a certain distance."

"The use of the dummies was nicely done," adds Vint. "When they try to retrieve the weapons, they get 'trapped' for trying. That was very interesting."

Lirlina continues, "Can she fight? I don't know. Can she survive? I don't know. Can she defend herself? One thousand percent, YES!"

"She's rad and valid," says Sol. "I have nothing else to say."

The gamemakers rate Tira's creative performance, while the trainers think of a way to get rid of the electromagnetic trap, since several weapons are attached to it and it may shock the trainers when they try to get the weapons. Eventually, the trainers couldn't find a way, so they covered it with a glass box big enough to hide it.

Genji says, "It's glass, and this is the private sessions. Others are not allowed to see that."

The trainers then cover it with gift wrappers in a half-baked manner, due to time pressure.

"Please cover it nicely so it won't look suspicious," says Genji. Although inside him, he knows it will look more suspicious. He just shakes his head, and other gamemakers react to it in an annoyed manner or in a negative way as well. At least, the trainers wrapped the box nicely. Now, it's time to call in the next tribute.

"Thomas Barnaby of District Six, please enter the room."

The small and pale-skinned boy with large and black moles over various parts of his skin enters the room.

Genji plays the audio. "You have twelve minutes to present us anything you desire. May the odds be ever in your favor. You may start now." He then adds immediately, "Also, kindly not touch the gift box. You don't wanna know what kind of sorcery happened earlier that we can't remove it from its original place."

Thomas is curious, but he obeys the gamemaker speaking since there are more than twenty gamemakers watching him right now, and he doesn't want to leave a reputation of disobedience for his private session. He starts with a warhammer from the shelf. He tries to swing it to dummy with intelligence provided for him to fight. However, the dummy knocks it off his hand. He tries to pick it up, but the dummy holds his neck, signaling that it would have snapped his neck if this was all real.

He gives up immediately, accepting his defeat. He goes for archery this time. The targets are dropped from the ceiling. He shoots arrows across the room, but his aim is completely off. Sometimes, he drops the arrows to the ground when launching fails. After none of the arrows landed on any of the targets provided, he quits and finds something else to do.

"What special thing can I get from here?" Thomas asks the gamemakers.

The trainer instead gives him a virtual reality headset.

"Okay, cool!" Thomas is also told of the conveyor belt, thus he jogs alone. Before the dummies are called out, he's already tired. He lies down on the floor. "I like your flooring here. It's not too hard yet it's not too soft. He rests for about a minute, while babbling about the stars in the night sky.

When he gets up, he tries to make fire. He rubs two wooden pieces together. He gives up after a minute. "Fire is not easy to make, but what are the chances of needing it?"

Thomas goes for the wall this time. He gets up by about five feet before he falls. It's not a hard impact to the ground, but before he is able to get up, his time is up and he is told to leave the basement.

"See ya!" He waves to the trainers and gamemakers before leaving the level.

"Awful!" criticizes Morty.

"Six is as good as dead this year," says Zorro.

Ethyl adds, "He's showing us a variety, but he didn't do well in any of them."

"I was expecting a jack-of-all-trades from that to be honest," continues Toria. "Now, I'm just disappointed."

Deck says, "He has charm, but not physically."

"Do we need fire? No," says Radon. "I guess he tried at least, but that wasn't enough."

The trainers have finally found a way to get rid of Tira's output by pushing the gift box backstage. They add back the other weapons that were missing earlier due to the magnetic trap Tira made. The gamemakers also rate Thomas. Not long after, they call in the next tribute.

"Rufus Cornelii of District Two, please enter the room."

Some of the gamemakers are shocked to see a very short boy with spiky black hair for someone from District Two. What stands out in his appearance is his face, permanently burned after the fire he caused in school when he was ten. Genji gives his pre-recorded audio for Rufus to listen to.

From there, Rufus starts off by requesting the wall. He scales it without any difficulty. When he's done, he makes his way down. He then requests for elevated beams or bars. After a minute, the trainers bring out what he requested, and he shows off a few acrobatic or gymnastic tricks. He walks with balance from the end of one beam to another, then he transfers beams. He also swings on the beams, transferring around from time to time. He still has about three to four minutes remaining, but he leaves early. He turns back a bit to try and see the gamemakers' reactions before entering the elevator, but it's hard for him to see.

"That's it!?" complains Nova, dissatisfied. "I expected more for someone from Two."

"I like how he did all that balancing and gymnastics though," says Sedna. "That's some form of art you don't see every day."

"Did any of you see the look on his face before leaving?" asks Vint. "I'm sensing something suspicious."

"It's hard to tell, but for someone from Two, I don't think that's his only skill," shares Arc. "He's probably hiding something, but why?"

"He is by far the youngest career volunteer in history," states Niccolo. "He did both climbing and balancing really well, but I do believe he is hiding something. Perhaps he doesn't want to be known as a threat?"

"What would the careers think though?" asks Genji. "They can kick him out for his possibly low score."

"To be honest, I'd rather see him downplaying his performance than that One girl telling us to lower her score," shares Vint.

Cassine says, "I guess I'm worried for him, but maybe he has this all planned out."

"I'm so confused," tells Celestina. "That's not what I saw from him during these training days."

"I guess we can say he's downplaying then?" Alistair hypothesizes. "He didn't use up all of his time. For someone from Two, this is absolutely beyond normal."

"Fair enough," Arc concludes.

Since this break is longer than usual, some gamemakers are already ordering snacks for delivery. Some make more coffee or tea. Some take a longer than usual bathroom break. Eventually, their break time is up, so the next tribute is called in.

"Owen Lee Bai of District Eleven, please enter the room."

Not long after, the boy with a babyish and dimpled face with messy and wavy black hair enters the basement. He listens to the audio of the instructions before he starts.

Owen gets various objects on shelves as he begins. He asks for a door and a ladder. While waiting, he sets up the knife with a rope. He ties the rope around the handheld part of the knife. When the door and ladder arrives, he climbs the ladder to place something on top of the door. He ties the rope to a part of the door. He then asks for a dummy to walk through the door. It does so, and the knife reaches the dummy's legs, but the knife doesn't stab it. Instead, Owen kicks its stomach. picks up the knife, then stabs it to the dummy's stomach. Afterwards, he requests for everything to be taken away.

He now gets a string and ties it to a paint bucket handle. He ties it between two poles that came from the floor. He asks for another dummy to walks through it. It misses the trap, but it walks through it again, then green paint is splattered all over the dummy's back.

He asks for a cement brick this time. He ties the rope around it, then he asks for it to be placed on top. A dummy is requested once again, and he drops the cement brick on the dummy's head by releasing the rope. He goes to where the cement brick was dropped, then he flings it to the dummy's stomach.

When he's done, he moves on to identifying plants. He uses the machine as that's what he's used to doing in training. He takes his time to answer everything. By the time he finishes, the buzzer rings and he leaves the basement.

"His traps aren't A-class," Lirlina comments. "They weren't bad though."

"He doesn't look like anything close to being strong, but he may become likable with his traps," says Deck.

Sol adds, "I like his traps actually. They are simple but effective. They may not be the best, but they work."

"They have the high tendency to fail though. Did you see his first two traps?" Morty brings up.

"Yeah they do. Can't disagree with the high chance of failure," Sol answers.

"That's not all he is," shares Iota. "Although he's really not strong."

"Oh yes! As someone who has seen him training, he's worse than what he showed, much worse" Celestina backs up.

Alistair points out, "His memory is good though. He got a perfect score for plant identification."

"Ooh!" Iota reacts.

The gamemakers rate Owen, while the trainers clean up the mess he made in the basement. It's much more than the usual mess made by most tributes.

"Poppy Sennett of District Eleven, please enter the room."

The short and slim girl with black hair, which is long and wavy, enters the basement with a smile. She tries to be confident, so she smiles wider. She is told the instructions through the pre-recorded audio being played through the mic.

Poppy starts by getting a pocket of throwing knives. Three targets are lowered from the ceiling. She throws the knives to the targets. She continues getting more pockets of throwing knives until she's left with eight minutes on the clock. More than half of them miss. A few land on the inner ring, then the rest land either on the outer ring or the middle ring.

She moves on to identifying edibles and inedibles. She uses the machine and sets the difficulty to the highest level. She doesn't take long to answer each. In the end, she gets a perfect score. She has spent a decent amount of time with edible and inedible plants after all during training. Her parents also have a garden at home, so plant identification is a piece of cake to her.

She then picks up a sickle and requests for a trainer. Ngano Pinipig, the sickle trainer, comes with a sickle in hand. Poppy spars with the trainer for a while. She tries to attack. She dodges attacks. She blocks attacks. Eventually, Ngano gets the sickle near her neck when only a baker's dozen seconds remain on the clock.

"Time is up! You may now leave the basement."

Poppy gives them a smile before going to the elevator to leave the basement. _I'm actually nervous? I thought I would do well. Oh well, at least I tried._

"She's okay," says Al. "She didn't do well except the edibles."

"Let me remind everyone that we don't have poisonous plants in the arena," Radon brings up.

"We have memory though," defends Lian. "Memory is going to be very important at the beginning, and we all know that."

"I can't say anything against that," Radon ends. "That is very true."

"Ngano already went easy on Poppy," says Arc. "Yet, she lost."

Axel says, "Her smile makes up for every mess she made."

"Her throwing knife skills are below average, but she's got potential, mentally speaking," says Toria.

Nova says, "Look, if you can't do well with something, why show us?"

No one responds to it, but they get the idea she's trying to push out. The trainers clean the throwing knives that went out of range, while the gamemakers give Poppy a rating each.

"Susie Ye of District Seven, please enter the room."

The small girl with light brown eyes and shoulder-length jet black hair enters the room. Her fists are clenched. Genji plays the pre-recorded audio to let Susie know the instructions.

Susie picks up two axes, one on each hand, and requests for a dummy. She fights the dummy with both axes while the dummy is also using two holographic axes. She spars with it for a good three minutes until she gets the dummy by the neck. She continues the axe on the dummy until she decapitates it, making some gamemakers intrigued by her actions.

She then asks to spar with a trainer. Lorelei Anderside, the axe trainer, appears. She has two axes in hand. She spars with Susie while moving her arms and body quickly. After decapitating the dummy, she's aware what Susie can do. Susie blocks most of the attacks. At one point, Lorelei has the axe almost near her neck, but Susie dodges it on the right moment. She continues to spar with Lorelei until she pushes Lorelei to the ground and drops the axe on Lorelei's arm. The trainer lets out a scream and she almost threw the axe on her good hand to Susie's direction. Susie drops the other axe on the floor. She covers her mouth in shock and runs to the elevator, leaving the basement even though she still has about three and a half minutes remaining.

"LIT!" exclaims Zorro.

"Poor Lorelei..." Xylev comments. They all watch Lorelei being taken to the elevator, to the clinic.

"Is that allowed?" asks Cress.

"We didn't say it wasn't," says Alistair, rubbing his chin and thinking carefully. "This is why we use dummies, and also why we have dummies used most of the time instead."

"She'll be fine," says Vint with a creepy smile. "We have skilled doctors in the clinic."

Niccolo says, "Well, accidents happen."

"The arm though!" Lirlina says. "We honestly don't know how damaged it is."

"I'm gonna sway away from the Lorelei discussion and say Susie did surprisingly well," Celestina says. "She's sketchy but skilled enough."

"She provides quality entertainment!" Deck adds.

Sol adds, "Did you see how she decapitated the dummy!? Hohoho!"

"She's more brutal than I thought," says Genji. "Totally wasn't expecting that from her, both dummy and trainer fights."

"We have to give credit to both of them. Lorelei didn't go easy on Susie, and yet Susie won somehow," Jom states.

While the gamemakers put away the dummy and clean the fake blood from it and the real blood from Lorelei, the gamemakers give her a score each. Some of them seem excited doing so.

"Brenna O'Hare of District Two, please enter the room," announces Genji.

"We're at the last!" says Ylvia.

"She sounds like my name, Brenda!"

The blue-eyed blonde enters the room. Coldness fills her eyes, but not all gamemakers get that aura from her.

"You have twelve minutes to present us anything you desire. May the odds be ever in your favor. You may start now."

Brenda immediately gets a pocket of knives. She orders five high skilled dummies to come every ten seconds for the next minute. With every encounter with a dummy, she slashes its neck. She slashes neck after neck within less than two minutes.

She drops her knives and requests for a naginata, something that does not exist upstairs. She calls out ten dummies, one after every three seconds. In the end, she slays the ten dummies down. She drops her naginata. She calls for dummies again after requesting for a shotel. Not long after, ten more dummies are on the ground, defeated.

It doesn't stop there as she asks for a warhammer and three dummies only, with fifteen-second intervals between each. The first one comes out in high speed. She dodges it and launches her warhammer to its back. It doesn't end there as she whacks through its head, its back, its butt. She goes for the legs too, then the next dummy comes. She throws the dead dummy to the second dummy to distract, then she goes for the head from the front. Effortlessly, she digs the warhammer through the chest. The third comes not long after. She throws her warhammer to the dummy's feet, then she grabs the dummy on the chest and wrestles it to the ground. She throws it across the room, and gives it an uppercut, repeatedly.

She asks for a battle axe this time. Instead of dummies, she asks for mutt versions of them - dummutts, as some trainers and gamemakers may know it as. They dash to her in intervals of three seconds. She knocks each mutt off with one swing of the axe. For some, she cuts them through the head from the top. Others are slashed away sideways. She then asks for a golem- or ogre-shaped dummy. She is given one, and she starts by going through its legs. She grabs the warhammer and jumps to it, aiming for the head. After successfully hitting it, she gets her battle axe once more and hits its back repeatedly. It ends up to a point that the battle axe goes through the whole dummy. She lets it go and stretches, making cracking sounds in the process.

With approximately four minutes remaining, she gets darts. She shoots for the bullseye and gets them all there. She then picks up a bow and a quiver of arrows. Again, she aims for the bullseye and gets them there, but not all as she has two of them only on the inner ring.

Next up, she goes for the trident. She asks to spar with a trainer, so Manu Malo comes out. It goes on for a good minute before Brenna almost gets him in the stomach. "Touché," she murmurs, remembering what Millie tells her when she loses in a sparring fight.

The beginning of the end is when she gets two scythes, one for each hand. She asks for dummies to be released in one-second intervals. From that, she shows the trainers and the gamemakers that she can swipe, slash, chop, mutilate, but most importantly - kill everyone with just two scythes. Her preferred weapon is a curved blade after all.

"Time is up! You may now leave the basement."

Brenna walks to the elevator with a cold heart. She pauses, makes a very creepy but confident smile, before pushing the button, entering the elevator, and leaving the basement. The gamemakers only see her back though.

"IT'S AN ART!" exclaims Sedna.

"I LOVE IT!" screams Ylvia.

"Sponsors will indeed love her," adds Deck. "That is some serious shit you don't see every year."

"She gives us all a good show, a VERY good show," says Axel.

"I'm gonna be the bad guy and say she lacks some versatility given our arena," says Morty.

"I swear, she's like... THE BEST!" says Brenda. "She saved herself for last because she knows it!"

"True, you don't see that confidence from every tribute," Jom says.

Radon shares, "I just wonder how she'll do in the arena, because this isn't like how it was in the Snow Dynasty."

Zorro states, "She defeated mutts and dummies like that. How can you beat her!? She's like... a goddess."

Vint says, "I hate to say this, but she might be able to overcome all the mutts. She has surprised us."

The trainers try to clean all the dummies on the floor, but it can't be done in just three minutes. Regardless, nobody is next. The gamemakers also give their ratings to the last tribute who presented.

"I think we can formally close this year's private sessions with... a pizza party!" says Niccolo.

"PIZZA!" Sol exclaims.

"Most of us here know that pizza is Master Nic's favorite food," Alistair states.

"Very true, Alistair. You're doing a great job as head gamemaker for the fourth year, and I can't wait to see how the rest of the games go! Everyone please give your head gamemaker a round of applause."

They do so. Alistair adds, "Well, none of this could have happened had I not been taught and inspired by the talented master of all, Mister Niccolo Jones! Please give him a round of applause too." They do so once more.

Niccolo reminds, "Don't forget, all of us are here rating the private sessions, and you should all be proud of yourselves for sticking through this six-hour event! Well done everyone!" They applaud once more. "I say we finally get a break, and a good break is none other than pizza."

Cassine orders pizza while Genji calls for the beverages. They also order the same food and drinks for the trainers, as it is tradition for them since they had three days worth of being there for the training days. They deserve something too!

Morty retrieves the final scores from the database. He shows them to the other gamemakers and prepares to send the summary to Isis Ambergayle. Soon enough, the rest of Panem shall see who gets what score, who the skilled tributes are, who the threats are, who the weaklings are, and more. It's all up to interpretation once broadcast through national television. What matters is that a score exists to rate the tributes' preparedness for the games they are in.


	37. Night 4: Numbers

Isis Ambergayle has just finished getting her hair fixed backstage. She checks her email to see an email from Morty. _It's the scores! Perfect._ She stands up from her seat and looks for her guest.

"How do I look?"

Isis turns to see a tall woman with brown skin and wavy green hair. Her green hair is dyed in various shades, making it look like the greens of grass and trees. The arrangement isn't messy. It starts as dark green from the scalp and slowly transitions to lighter shades towards the tips. She wears emerald green contact lenses and a galaxy-themed dress. She fixes her leather sandals with heels.

"Lizzie!" Isis approaches her for a hug. "I didn't expect to see your makeover this soon."

"It's for the games, Isis," replies Halizeia. "At least I'm ready, like Lucius."

"Oh yeah, he had his makeover yesterday before our interview. Don't forget yours is tomorrow."

"I won't. Don't worry."

"Morts already sent the scores over."

"Awesome!"

"Give comments as much as you want. You're harmless." Isis chuckles.

"Who would be considered harmful?" Halizeia chuckles back.

"The gamemakers? They know what each tribute did, so there might be bias here and there."

"Oh yeah!"

"That's why we don't invite gamemakers to score reveal."

"Good point."

They talk more for the next few minutes, then they are told to prepare for score reveal. They both take their seats onstage as told.

"Three, two, one," signals the camerawoman. "And we're live!"

"Good evening Panem!" starts Isis. "As you know, I am Isis Ambergayle, and here with me tonight is the daughter of the vice president, Halizeia de Kabaitan."

"I'm glad to be here once again," says Halizeia. "I was actually thinking Sylvia would be here tonight."

"Oh, I'm pretty sure Sylvia has become busier when she gave up her position to pursue becoming the escort of Twelve. I know you're watching this, Syl, and we miss you up here with us."

* * *

In a fancy hotel's restaurant, Sylvia brought out the kids to buffet dinner as she promised. With her are her co-district representatives - Larry, Anino, Totochan, Dante, and Corinna; Corinna's friends - Dorian, Macy, Thomas, Filly, Chip, and Tira; and some of their district representatives - Anakyn, Cate, Hazel, Renz, Azriel, Maggie, Alana, Amaya, Chay, Bonita, and Neomett.

"Reservation under Sylvia," she tells the lady at the counter. The lady tells her to wait before going to her colleagues to check on the reservation. Sylvia faces the television screen to see Isis and Halizeia live.

"I know you're watching this, Syl, and we miss you up here with us."

"Awww..." says Sylvia. She then faces the rest of her companions. "They're starting score reveals!"

"Yeah, that looks like it," responds Renz.

"Anyway," Halizeia continues as heard from the television. "You said you have the scores."

"Yes I do!" responds Isis. "I have received the score summary from Gamemaker Morty. I think we can now start, with District One as usual."

* * *

At the One villa, Annaleigh, Argentum, Ace, Concordia, and Frank wait patiently for the scores to be revealed.

"It's here!" says Concordia.

"I think we can now start, with District One as usual." As seen from the television, Isis checks her phone to see the scores. "Okay, so first one is Annaleigh St. Cloud of District One. I was informed to tell everyone to check the lower left corner of your screens for her pixel art, drawn by Gamemaker Sedna Neos."

"Oh cool!" says Annaleigh as she sees a pixel art of her face - long dirty blonde hair, turquoise eyes, pale skin tone. She notices that her actual picture is positioned on the lower right corner of the screen.

Halizeia asks, "We didn't have pixel arts back then."

"Yeah, we didn't, but our Head Gamemaker Alistair wanted someone to draw these out for future reference," replies Isis.

"Oh, okay."

"So let's start with Annaleigh St. Cloud of District One, who got a score of... nine!"

 _Shit? Shit._ Annaleigh gulps silently but nervously. _I should've downplayed my actual performance._

"A nine is a good score," says Ace. "You don't seem so happy."

Annaleigh glances to Ace, then looks back to the screen.

Halizeia comments, "It's a girl from District One! Of course a nine is normal."

"True though," responds Isis.

Ace asks Annaleigh sternly, "Can you tell me what is wrong?"

"I was aiming for an eight, so they won't think of me as a threat."

"Hah! You shouldn't worry yet until you see everyone's scores y'know? The real threats aren't always those who get nines. Sometimes, it's those who get an eleven or those who get a two suspiciously." Ace pats Annaleigh's back. "You're fine."

"My turn!" says Argentum as he points on his pixel art on the screen - curly dark blond hair, dark blue eyes, fair skin tone.

"Now we move on to the District One male, Argentum Montgomery," announces Isis. "Do you have any guesses for his score when his partner got a nine?"

"I'm gonna say," Halizeia pauses to think. "I don't know, maybe a nine or a ten."

"Let's find out!" Isis checks her phone once more. "Argentum Montgomery, with a score of... nine!"

"I'm half not wrong!" says Halizeia.

"Haha! Indeed," replies Isis.

Argentum jumps from the sofa, claps his hands thrice, then raise both arms up. "YES! I GOT A NINE! HAHAHA!"

"Were you also aiming for a certain score?" asks Frank.

"Not really. Just anything high to hold me up," says Argentum. "We're careers, dude."

"You're even," Ace tells both of them. "But that's not what I want. I want to see either of you two get the crown in the end."

"Oh yeah, it is the most important thing," Concordia agrees.

* * *

"Let us now move on to District Two," says Isis from the television, which Joan, Leif, Rufus, and Brenna pay attention to.

Leif says, "This is one of the boring parts of the games process. You see numbers, but you don't know what they really mean because you don't see what the tributes do."

Joan says, "It can give you an idea how good a tribute is in fighting though." Little does Joan know that she's getting that definition wrong.

Brenna's pixel art is on the bottom left part of the screen - blonde hair, blue eyes, fair to slightly tan skin tone. On the bottom right of the screen is her actual image. Isis continues, "Up next is Brenna O'Hare."

"District Two has been fun to watch, especially their last victor," Halizeia comments.

Joan rolls her eyes. "Wait till Cyrus hears this."

"They're still able to produce decent victors indeed," Isis agrees.

"Oh!" Joan reacts.

"We're an awesome district! Glad I was able to transfer here," Leif says.

Joan then grins, "Wait till Ace hears that. I can imagine her throwing a tantrum right now."

"I wonder how District Two did in this year's private sessions," says Halizeia.

"Let's find out! Starting with Brenna O'Hare of District Two..." Isis checks her phone once more. "Oh wow!"

"What is it?" Halizeia peeks at Isis's phone. "What a goddess!"

"We have Brenna O'Hare with a mighty score of eleven!" Isis announces. "By goddess, you are right, Lizzie."

"It's not every year that somebody gets an eleven, or even a twelve!"

"I heard the gamemakers have higher standards, or at least some of them."

"I heard so too."

"Well, so that's our first eleven this year. Do you think there will be more?"

"Nah," responds Halizeia.

Joan and Leif clap and cheer for Brenna's score. She smirks slightly, almost unobvious and unmoving from her usual cold poker face.

Leif says, "Now it's Rufus's turn!"

Rufus's pixel art appears on its designated spot - spiky black hair, amber eyes, light brown skin tone, burnt right side of the face (viewers' left). On the other side is his actual photo. Isis continues, "Well, let's find out as we move on! Now we have Rufus Cornelii, our youngest career volunteer in the history of the Hunger Games!"

"What a legend! Did he have training though, or did he just jump in?" asks Halizeia.

"I don't know," responds Isis.

 _Heh! They don't know. They won't know._ Rufus smirks at this thought.

Halizeia questions, "What happened to the right side of his face?"

"I can ask him when I interview him, but for now, his score." Isis is on her phone again to retrieve the score. "Okay, so we have Rufus Cornelii with a score of... five!"

"Five!?" exclaims Halizeia.

"Five? Five!" Isis picks up her phone and shows it to the audience and the camera. "I'm not lying, it's a five."

"Five!?" reacts Joan.

"FIVE? WHY!?" Leif panics.

Rufus smirks, which turns into an evil smile not long after. _It's part of the plan._

"Dude! The careers are so kicking you out," Joan informs him as if it's a matter of fact.

Brenna is just rolling her eyes, zoning out not long after.

"This is serious shit!" Joan overreacts. "What am I gonna tell the district!? I'm a disappointment! What the fuck! I don't wanna show up to anybody from Two. Blasius is supposed to get us a ten or something. How could you..." Joan is interrupted as Rufus holds the lighter near her bag. "What are you doing? Put the lighter down." Rufus only lights up the lighter. Joan shouts, "I SAID PUT IT THE FUCK DOWN!"

Rufus lowers his lighter, but lowers Joan's bag as well. Joan ends up snatching her bag from him and hiding away. Rufus giggles mildly, then he looks at the shocked Leif.

Leif says, "Please tell me I can still sell you to sponsors tomorrow for free day."

Rufus says, "It's all... part of the plan." He grins menacingly, which forces Leif to look away.

* * *

At the room reserved for buffet night, the seven mentors sit together, the eight tributes sit together in a separate table. A third table is where the stylists and escorts sit, eight of them Capitolites in total. On the television screen, they learn that Rufus of District Two scored a five, only.

Isis shows her phone to the camera. "I'm not lying, it's a five."

"I wonder why," says Halizeia. "Even Cyrus Mackintosh didn't get something that low."

"True. Cyrus got a seven in his year, and he was still kicked out of the career alliance."

"He won though."

"Oh yes, he won indeed, so I guess you can't judge a twelve-year-old from Two just by his score."

"Yeah, let's move to the tech district now shall we?"

"Oh yes we shall!" Isis coughs then says softly, "Pardon."

The screen's bottom left has a pixel art of Tira - shoulder-length black hair, dark brown eyes, fair skin tone.

"Awesome!" says Tira.

"We get to see Tira's score now!" says Macy excitedly.

After Isis drinks a little water from the tumbler on her table, she resumes, "Next up we have Tira Hyde of District Three, and she received a score of... Nine!"

"Nine!? No way!" Halizeia reacts.

The people in the room clap upon learning her score.

"I thought I'd get a seven, honestly." She feeds herself roast beef afterwards.

"You deserve the nine, whatever you did," congratulates Thomas, remembering and wondering if it had anything to do with the "gift" box.

Filly gives her a hug, and she returns it; Macy follows.

"What do you think did she do to score a nine?" Isis asks.

Halizeia answers, "I think it has to be something creatively crafted; something impressive that surprised the gamemakers. Because otherwise, there's nothing else. I don't think she's the career type."

"Well, I made a magnetic trap," says Tira.

"Oh wow that's so cool!" Bonita reacts.

"I wish I could make a magnetic hand, so I don't have to get up to summon my phone," comments Neomett as he looks at his robotic-esque arm.

Sylvia says, "You deserve it, girl! We're all so proud of you!"

"Thanks everyone!" Tira feeds herself more roast beef.

The pixel art is on its spot on the screen, and it's one for Chip - messy brown hair, brown eyes, pale skin tone, big eyeglasses with a white tape on its bridge. "Chip Tablet this time, also from District Three. He scored... an eight!"

"Wow, that's pretty high for a thirteen-year-old!" comments Halizeia.

The people in the room also clap for Chip.

"You did it!" Tira cheers.

Isis replies to Halizeia, "I know right? You think this is another creative show of skill?"

"Perhaps so!" Halizeia replies.

"What did you do, Chip?" Tira asks curiously.

"Uh..." Chip remembers how he was not able to finish the locks. "I showed something from the tarmac."

"Gosh, that is cool! Hohoho!" Cate comments.

"Should I be worried we're a threat this year?" Renz asks.

"In the past ten years, Two also won three times," states Anakyn. "I'm actually a bit worried we are a threat."

* * *

"Let's now move on to District Four," says Isis.

"Hey that's me!" Jeanne points at the part of the screen where her pixel art is - long blonde hair, blue-green eyes, pale skin tone, and a fair amount of freckles.

Delta and Tommy are with both of their tributes, no one else. Delta says, "You know, I smell something funny about these artworks."

"What do you mean?" asks Tommy unseriously.

"Like... why would they broadcast the artwork during score reveal?"

Tommy thinks, then says, "Good point to be honest."

Isis continues, "We now have Jeanne Maxima of District Four with a score of... nine!"

"That's awesome!" Jeanne applauds.

Halizeia comments, "Well, she's from Four, so a nine makes sense!"

"But the kids from Three got high scores!" Jeanne complains. "They're making us look like wimps!"

Delta tells her, "Girl, relax. They are telling you to strike them first."

"Hmmm... actually, I think that's a good idea."

Delta thinks, _Haha! I am more successful than Ace by saying that._

"But wait, what are we gonna do with the boy from Two!? He's worthless!"

Horden's pixel art appears on the screen - short wavy red hair, light blue eyes, tan skin tone, a lot of freckles. "Next up is Horden Tanase of District Four with a score of... nine!"

"That's the fifth nine of the night!" Halizeia states. "And we haven't even gotten to half of the tributes."

"I know! Even I am surprised with the lack of variety in scores, hahaha!"

Horden claps humbly with satisfaction.

"Well, looks like you two are even with the peeps from One," Tommy says with a smirk. "Your real problems are the peeps from Two. The one that is too high is peerless. The one that is too low is probably too weak."

"The four of you will be a force to reckon with," Delta adds.

"Wait, but why didn't they give any of us a ten!?" Jeanne complains. "I don't wanna be even with janitor and the One people. I wanna be above them!"

"Y'know? I think they don't rig the scores to your favor, girl," Delta answers.

"I deserve a higher score! I don't care if it's a nine as long as my allies are below me dammit!" Jeanne then storms away from the living room angrily.

* * *

"Lechon kawali," says the waitress as she puts down the food down on Caitlin, Kylene, Ciara, and Arlenna's table. "Bulalo beef soup." She puts down food on their table once more, and once more after saying, "Bicol express." Afterwards, she leaves their table.

"Eat up," Caitlin tells them.

"We're still missing the garlic rice and the shrimp paste rice," Kylene says.

The waitress comes back with both immediately after, saying the names of the food as she puts them down.

"Is that me?" Ciara asks as she points at the pixel art on the screen of the television there - wavy shoulder-length light brown hair, hazel eyes, light tan skin tone.

"Doesn't look like anybody else, Gracie," Arlenna responds.

"We have District Five next!" Isis announces. "This is Ciara Graceanne Westley of District Five with a score of... five."

 _Shit._ Ciara worries for her hair. _I knew I made a mistake._

Arlenna thinks, _It's a low enough score, but I wonder if I am going to beat that._

"Ciara, you okay?" Caitlin asks.

Ciara stares at the screen and then nervously turns back to them. Arlenna smiles nervously too at this.

"I-I-Is there anything wrong?" Kylene asks awkwardly.

"Nothing!" both teens answer quickly.

"Trust me, kids. You wouldn't act that nervously if nothing is wrong." Caitlin puts some garlic rice in her plate. "I'll let you two discuss privately first, if you want."

Ciara and Arlenna make eye contact for a split second before they go back to their food.

* * *

"Next, we have Filament Harmon-Fierro of District Five!" Isis announces.

"I'm next!" says Filly. He notices his pixel art on the lower left corner of the screen - shaggy reddish copper hair, brown eyes, pale skin tone, freckles on cheeks and nose bridge, round face.

"Filament Harmon-Fierro of District Five has scored... a four!"

"Not bad I'd say!" comments Halizeia.

"Not bad indeed!" Filly says aloud. "It's better than a three, or a two, or a one!"

"Yay!" cheers Corinna.

"You must have done well enough!" Thomas says.

"Awesome!" Tira and Filly hug out their success.

"Thanks everyone!" Filly says, before feeding himself some paella. _I got a good score for someone from my district! It's not as high as Tira's or Chip's, but it's already good!_

* * *

"And now we go to District Six!" Isis says.

In the villa is Violet with Kylie. Kylie turned down Thomas's invite to buffet dinner.

"Relax, dear. Royce got a one for doing nothing and insulting the gamemakers comically, but he's here with me, mentoring!" Violet pats Kylie's back.

They see Kylie's pixel art on screen - long raven black hair, brown eyes, tan skin tone.

"Ready?" asks Violet in a friendly manner.

Kylie shakes her head.

Violet responds, "Well, you don't really have a choice. Haha!"

Kylie watches nervously as Isis announces her score.

"Kylie Ford of District Six got a... three!"

 _Oh no! Oh no. What am I gonna do!? I can't do well with a score that low._ As Kylie worries, Violet pats her back.

"Worry not, dear. You can still ace your interview with Isis." Violet pats Kylie's back once more.

"What... what angle should I go for?"

"Go for something that gets the audience's attention, in a good way." Violet smiles. "Don't worry about it too much for now. Interviews won't be until... about forty-eight hours from now."

* * *

Thomas's pixel art is on the screen - curly dark brown hair, dark eyes, very pale skin, some black dots for his moles.

"Oh, it's time," Thomas says before feeding himself some paella.

Isis announces, "Thomas Barnaby of District Six... gets a two!"

"Oh wow, now I didn't see that coming," comments Halizeia.

"Well, not everybody can excel in everything, but we don't know. Maybe he at least tried to get a score like two."

"I actually did," says Thomas. "I tried whatever I can, and I even tried talking to the people there."

"What happened!?" worries Macy.

"I just didn't do as successfully as the others, but it's okay! It's just a number," says Thomas.

"Well, as long as you win, then it's all alright, y'know," suggests Maggie.

Thomas doesn't want to explain to the Five mentor about his philosophy of joining the games and not winning it. _She doesn't know, but that's okay, I guess. Wait, shouldn't she have known this from the reaping recap?_

Maggie thinks, _Wait a minute... I think this was the kid... or I might have mixed it up. I don't know! HAHAHA!_ Maggie decides to look away, probably to somewhere like the screen.

* * *

"Let us now now check on District Seven," Isis continues.

"We're halfway through!" Halizeia mentions.

"Oh yeah, you're right!" Isis says, "I don't know if that was long or short."

"But we're halfway!"

"Yes!"

At the District Seven villa, both tributes, both mentors, and both stylists wait for the results of Susie and Orion. Susie's pixel art appears first on its usual spot - shoulder-length jet black hair, dark brown eyes, Asian skin tone. Susie watches nervously for her score to be revealed.

"We now have Susie Ye of District Seven."

"Like Thomas Barnaby earlier, Susie Ye is also one of our non-career volunteers," adds Halizeia.

"Correct! We have a couple more later."

"We have a lot this year."

"We sure do! Now to the score of Susie Ye of District Seven. She got... a nine!"

"Whoa!"

"She has everything all in the bag."

History turns to Susie, shocked and wide-eyed. Woodrow glances at his mentee nonchalantly. Orion claps to Susie while Vector dabs to it.

Latisha says, "You did a great job giiiiirrrrrlllll!" Latisha pats Susie's back before giving her a hug. "I'm so proud of you!"

Susie shivers at the thought of the reason behind that nine. She shivers at the poor trainer. She almost got killed.

 _"Giiiiirrrrrlllll," mocks Kevin. "I told you to kill the trainer! You would have gotten a twelve! Nobody has done that in like... who knows how long? You would've been the first in years, perhaps decades!"_

 _I don't deserve a nine. Kevin is just a voice I'm hearing._ Upon those thoughts, she just can't shake them off as much as she is trying to.

"I think she did something spectacular," speculates Halizeia.

"Well, she's ready, and her score says enough of it." Isis drinks some water from her tumbler. During this time, Orion's pixel art - short black hair, brown eyes, black skin - appears on-screen. "Next we have Orion Fleming of District Seven. He got a score of... seven!"

Orion dabs to it, and so does Vector. History hesitates in following, but she ends up clapping instead. Woodrow claps along.

Latisha cheers, "You did well too!" Latisha then dabs along with them.

"Wow!" comments Halizeia. "I wasn't expecting a score like that for someone from Seven, but it's very valid!"

"Indeed!" agrees Isis. "Orion Fleming of District Seven got a seven."

"Now to the next district?"

* * *

"Of course! Moving on to the textile district, District Eight."

Karla screams excitedly. "Here we go!"

They first see Lainey's pixel art on-screen - shoulder-length soft brown hair in a French braid, chocolate brown doe eyes, fair skin tone.

Isis announces, "This is Lainey Sash of District Eight, and she got a score of... six!"

"Not too bad!" comments Halizeia. "I like the middle."

"The middle is such a safe spot," Isis adds.

Lainey thinks, _This is good, I guess. I hoped for something better, but this is good._

"You did awesome, yay!" Karla cheers. "I also got a six, two years ago."

Olaf says, "I also got a six, so we're all cool!"

Ingeo worries that he won't be able to reach that score. He looks back at the screen to his pixel art - short light brown hair, light brown eyes, sickly pale skin tone.

"Ingeo Olefin of District Eight has garnered a score of... four!"

"Not bad I'd say," Halizeia comments.

Ingeo worries a bit at that.

Olaf says, "You're good! Don't worry about the score too much. Even careers don't win every year despite getting scores above six. Hohoho!"

"If you feel bad about it, you still have the interviews to bring yourself up to sponsors," adds Karla.

"Y-Yeah," Trav continues. "The scores just tell us a number that can mean anything, while the interview is you showing who you are to us."

Ingeo thinks about that. Now, he's starting to worry about the interviews. _But what if I screw it up too? What if I can't answer some of the questions the interviewer asks? What if my score is better than my interview?_

* * *

Halizeia continues, "Let's say you are on a jungle adventure at night. If you're in front, you don't know what will come for you and attack you first. If you're at the back, you'd be the first target if you're being chased by something. If you're in the middle, you're just... there. You have protection ahead and behind you."

"Interesting logic there, Lizzie," Isis replies. "You know, I never thought of that before, but it actually makes a good interview question had we discussed it elsewhere instead of live television."

"Oh sorry."

"No need to be! I have a lot of question ideas for the interviews." Isis faces the camera and winks to it. "Up next is the grain district of District Nine."

"Woohoo!" cheers Macy as she sees her pixel art on-screen - dark brown hair in two braided pigtails, big round pale green eyes, pale skin tone, freckles on her round face.

"Next up is one of our youngest tributes for the year, Macy Roe," Isis faces Halizeia. "So Lizzie, any predictions what Macy might get?"

"We can't say she'll do poorly immediately whatever score she gets. Look at Royce and his one."

"True that!"

"I'm gonna say three?"

"Okay then. So, Macy Roe of District Nine has a score of... two!"

"Oh."

"Oh?"

"Well, I'm not disappointed, but I'm not impressed, honestly."

"We'll have to see what she's really like when we meet her for the interviews."

Macy turns to the people around her in the same room. "Yay! I got a two! It's a good thing, right?"

"Well kid, it's not a one," says Amaya.

"It IS not a one," emphasizes Alana.

"Oh come on!" Maggie inserts. "One is a cool score. You keep it for yourself and can't split it further."

"Ugh, it's bad," comments Renz on Maggie's attempt of a joke.

"So a two is good, right?"

"A two is what I have!" Thomas announces.

"Yay!" Macy and Thomas high five then hug.

Dorian cracks his knuckles as his pixel art shows up on the television - light brown hair, dark brown eyes, slight tan, oval face.

"Now we have the district partner, Dorian Belcorn, who's one of the tallest tributes this year," says Isis.

"Oh wow!" exclaims Halizeia. "What a contrast between district partners."

"I know right! Let's now get to the score. Dorian Belcorn of District Nine got a score of... nine!"

"Nine! Same as the district number."

"You're right. Nine it is indeed."

"Wow!"

Dorian looks around to see the attention is currently all with him. People are applauding over his high score.

"You did awesome, Dorian!" Tira raises her hand for a high five.

Dorian high fives with her. "Very much appreciated. Same to you."

"Thanks!"

"What did you do?" Corinna asks curiously.

"Oh you know, something I like doing in my freetime, fencing," answers Dorian.

"Interesting..." comments Thomas.

* * *

Caitlin, Kylene, Ciara, and Arlenna are still eating at the restaurant one of them booked.

"Anything new in life?" asks Caitlin.

"Oh, no, still the usual," replies Kylene.

"You sure?"

Kylene nods. She then sips some of her green mango shake.

A few moments later, the four of their attentions are on the screen once again. Arlenna's pixel art is there - long straight brown hair, blue eyes, palish skin tone.

"Ky's tribute's turn," Caitlin says. "Sorry, I forgot your name."

"It's Winn- It's Arlenna, or Winnie," answers Ciara.

"And you are?" Kylene asks.

"She's Ciara Graceanne Westley," Arlenna answers. "I call her Gracie."

The two teens make eye contact.

 _It's time,_ thinks Ciara nervously as she anticipates her ally's score.

Isis announces, "From District Ten, we have Arlenna Winnie Scott."

"We actually have two thirteen-year-olds from District Ten this year."

"That is some interesting coincidence. Can you imagine a district with two twelve-year-olds?"

"Not this year." Halizeia laughs.

Isis follows. "Ah, well, Arlenna Winnie Scott of District Ten garnered a score of... five!"

Ciara looks to Arlenna's direction immediately, and vice versa. They know.

"So Winnie, we have the same score," Ciara says.

"I know, isn't that such... a coincidence?" Arlenna responds.

"I-Is there anything wrong?" asks Kylene, suspicious and anxious with the tone of both teen girls.

"They're just being too competitive," says Caitlin. "It's nothing to worry about, Ky."

"You sure?"

Caitlin and Kylene look at their tributes still staring into each other, probably reading each other's face expressions. Little do they know that they're actually worrying about their bet now that the result is out. They're also thinking how to do it without freaking anyone out.

"We'll discuss," says Ciara. She points two fingers on her eyes with one hand, then she uses those fingers to point at Arlenna.

Arlenna nods, wide-eyed.

"I'm freaking out," Kylene expresses. She sips some more of her green mango shake anxiously.

"Relax, Ky, they're not gonna kill each other for that common score," Caitlin says calmly.

* * *

At the District Ten villa, Abraham watches the broadcast of the scores. She took note of every score and wrote them on the back of a receipt. Kobe is in his room, and Abraham has no idea what he's doing. All he knows is that Kobe would rather be told of his score later on.

Kobe's pixel art is now up on the screen - shaggy nearly-black hair, blue eyes, pale skin tone.

Isis continues, "Our next tribute, the other thirteen-year-old, is Kobe Bridger of District Ten. He has received... a score of three from the gamemakers!"

"It's good enough," comments Halizeia.

Abraham writes " _Kobe - 3_ " as he waits for the next scores. On one hand, he is disappointed, but he understands a kid like Kobe was not fortunate enough to be raised well. He's probably not a bad person had he been raised better, but what does he know? He's not the parent or a relative. He's just the mentor, and his only job is to help him survive the hunger games. It's been a while since Abraham has seen a tribute from Ten being brought home after the games. He thinks it's about time they get another victor home soon.

 _These scores? These scores are just numbers, but they're interesting actually, or maybe I just like keeping data because it's an obsession._ He drops his pen for a moment, then he picks it up from the tabletop. He sighs. _I actually wish we could bring home another tribute soon, but with two thirteen-year-olds, the chances are low. I'm not giving up on them, but the chances are low, and I can't deny that._ He sighs once more.

* * *

Poppy's pixel art flashes on-screen - long wavy black hair in a ponytail, almond light brown eyes, dark skin tone.

At the District Eleven villa, Calient, Jokobbo, Marjorita, Poppy, and Owen have been watching each score come and go. Canvas is out with his friends for the night.

"It's finally time for District Eleven!" says Calient.

Jakobbo looks up as he continues playing with his fidget cube. "The scores are one of the decent parts of the whole games process."

"Poppy Sennett of District Eleven is next, and she got a score of... four!"

 _Four, only!?_ Poppy starts to worry. _I was expecting higher, but oh well. I guess it doesn't put a target on my back at least._

Owen pats Poppy's back. "You did good!"

"How about you?" asks Poppy.

They turn back to the screen to see the pixel art of Owen this time - wavy black hair, wide upturned copper-amber eyes, light skin tone, chubby cheeks with dimples.

"Hey that's me!" Owen says. "We get to find out my score at last."

"Yay!" Poppy cheers.

"Next up, we have Owen Lee Bai of District Eleven with a score of... four!"

"A second four. Not bad!"

"Yay!" says Owen.

"Yay!" Poppy cheers once again.

Owen thinks, _And by yay, I mean yes! It's the right score to be underestimated of my actions. Mwahahaha!_

"You two did good enough!" Calient compliments.

"Those are wonderful scores," adds Marjorita.

"They are!" Owen agrees. _Mwahahahaha! I'm loving this, all this._

* * *

Back at the restaurant in the hotel, the group of tributes, mentors, escorts, and stylists are still eating in the room Sylvia reserved. It's just about time that Corinna's pixel art appears live - straight light brown hair, round light brown eyes, fair skin tone.

"Ooh, we're near the end!" Sylvia says.

Corinna says, "I wonder what I got."

"Here on our last district! We now have Corinna Pickett of District Twelve, and she got a score of... a solid score of five!"

"What's with the solid?" Halizeia asks.

"I don't know. The file just has a comment that says solid in caps with five exclamation points."

"Hmmm... interesting."

"See?" Isis shows her phone to Halizeia, to the crowd, then to the camera.

"A solid five it is then. I wonder what's with the gamemakers."

"Same, to be honest." Isis then laughs with Halizeia.

"What's with the solid?" Corinna repeats the question from Halizeia.

"Well, it probably means you did well!" Filly says.

"That makes sense," Thomas adds.

"Yeah!" agrees Tira. "Solid means you're sure to be five, no matter what."

"Oh! Okay then," says Corinna.

None of the people in the room are aware of the gamemakers' scoring mechanics though. What Corinna's solid score simply means the score never needed to be rounded up or down, since it is an actual five-point-zero-zero (5.00) in the raw score.

Dante's pixel art is the last to appear live, as expected - black hair, large gray eyes, olive skin tone. Isis continues, "Last but not the least! Now we have Corinna's district partner, Dante Blackwell of District Twelve, and he received a score of... four!"

"Cool how we have another four," adds Halizeia.

Dante doesn't react to his score openly. _I like how my score is low enough to keep me away from being labeled as a threat. At least I won't get attention with a score this low._

"I only had a three back in my day," Larry shares.

"I had five," Maggie shares.

"A four isn't bad, and that's all you gotta know, kid," Anino tells Dante.

Dante doesn't react once again. At least he's satisfied with his score, and that's all that matters.

* * *

"And that ends score reveal tonight!" Isis says.

"It felt like it took a while," Halizeia says.

"I lost track of time."

"Me too. Hahaha!"

"Hahahaha! It was fun having you around as our guest tonight, Lizzie."

"I'm glad to be here with you two, Isis."

"That's all for now, Panem. If you're just here for the scores, thank you for tuning in! See you in Midnight Show tonight if you'll be watching."

"Good night Panem!" says Halizeia, then Isis repeats it before they are off-air.

Isis and Halizeia hug each other, then they high five.

"Okay, now what?" Halizeia asks.

"Dinner?"

"Good idea."

* * *

At the buffet, the tributes, mentors, and Capitolites talk among themselves. Each group is on a separate table.

"How about you, Dante? What do you like in the Capitol?" asks Tira.

Dante thinks what there is nice so far. _Well, I like the food here, but I haven't gone around that much._ "Um... the food?" He speaks so softly it is barely heard.

"The food here is DELICIOUS!" Macy exclaims.

"I can't disagree," Dorian says.

"I know!" Tira says, "What if we go food tripping tomorrow?"

"I don't know, but I'm interested," Corinna responds.

"I wanna try out the sweets around here!" Filly says with a tone of excitement.

"All of us can go around the Capitol together," suggests Thomas. "If you want to split up, that is fine too, but I want to go to as many places as I can."

"What if we talk to our mentors and escorts later on what we can do tomorrow?" suggests Tira.

"That's a good idea!" agrees Filly.

"It's going to be fun!" says Macy as she jumps up and down.

"When should we talk to them?" asks Corinna.

"I think it's best when almost everyone is prepared to leave," suggests Dorian. "That way, we don't interrupt them in their respective conversations."

"Alright, sounds good to me!" says Tira with a thumbs up.

On the other table in the same room, the mentors also have a discussion.

"Next year, we're giving Azriel the rest he deserves," shares Renz.

Azriel looks at his fellow mentors nervously.

"By then, I think I can already take over that role," Hazel adds.

"Amaya also deserves the rest," says Alana.

"Oh no no," says Amaya as she raises a hand and shakes it. "Disque needs the rest more."

"Disque O'Dequre?" Hazel asks.

"Yes, Violet knows her very well," says Amaya. "She was victor during the eighty-sixth. She's seventy now."

"I'm okay by myself," says Larry, fake happy.

"You need a victor too someday," says Maggie. "We haven't had a male victor after Theory Thompson, better known as Theo. He's been dead for a long time already."

"Before Azriel, the last time we had a victor was all the way back in seventy-eight, the year before Theo I believe," Renz adds. "Quest Trion, like Theo, has been on a better place for a while now."

"I hate to say this, but we never had a male victor after the Snows' time," Amaya says.

"Sad life," adds Alana, stirring her bubble tea drink with a straw.

Hazel asks, "Any other victors I haven't met?"

"Well, during meetings, we don't meet everyone from District Two," shares Amaya. "There are a lot of them, so they just send in representatives. You've met Cyrus and Joan. You probably met Reddeus Rocker and Elsie Magnum last year. There's Heath Moxie and Tiara Dragon too."

"Don't forget the Margrans," says Larry.

Amaya snaps her fingers. "Ah yes, Dale and Dina Margran are cousins who won in back-to-back years. I think they are scheduled to mentor next year, but I am not sure."

"There are a lot of victors from Two," says Renz. "I won't be surprised if they win again this year."

"Dude, that girl got an eleven!" Maggie exclaims. "An eleven is never a joke."

"But not all who get an eleven win in the end," points out Renz.

"Good point," says Maggie.

Alana brings up, "Don't forget our favorite trans victor."

"Mesha? Mesha!" says Larry. "I believe she was sixteen that time."

"We can't have a favorite if we only have one." Amaya chuckles to this.

The night goes on. Now it's time to visit the Capitolites on the other table.

"This was Jeck and I when we were children." Cate shows them a picture of herself with her sister playing below a Christmas tree.

"Gosh, I miss my sibs," shares Sylvia. "I hope they're all alright."

"Where are they?" Bonita asks curiously.

"Oh, some other place, far away from here."

"What do you mean?" questions Neomett.

"It's complicated," sighs Sylvia. _I must return home someday._

"Have I said I love parties like this?" says Totochan.

"Yes," responds Anino. "And it's not a party. It's a get-together."

"I love it!" Totochan says, again.

"For stylists, can you tell me what inspired you to be in your job currently?" Chay asks curiously.

"I seem to have an interest in designing," says Anino. "I like putting things together and making things work. Sometimes they don't, so you just gotta fix it here and there until it works!"

"This is my dream job!" exclaims Bonita. "I love making dresses. It's just in me."

"I don't know about me," starts Totochan. "I just love being here! Silver sent me here."

"Who?" asks Neomett as he turns his head.

"SilverflowerXRavenpaw!" answers Totochan.

"Are you..." Bonita asks, but doesn't complete it.

"Shhh..." says Sylvia as she puts a finger before her lips. "Be very careful when breaking the fourth wall."

"You did it too!" Totochan accuses.

"But I was careful a few chapters ago," defends Sylvia. "I was just asking the general audience's opinion on the Fun Day!"

"Eh eh," says Totochan as she waves her pointer finger. "You still broke it, and you're breaking it now!"

"What the fuck are you two talking about?" says Neomett, disinterested.

"Let's cut the conversation there," says Sylvia before feeding herself a cookie.

Anakyn says, "Can we go back to talking about our dreams as stylists?"

"Yes please," Sylvia answers immediately. She nervously sips some of her avocado shake. "You started off as an escort."

Anakyn answers, "Ah yes, due to some human error with the internals, my slot for escort was lost. With that, I told them that I would rather take the role of the stylist instead this year. This may be my first year as stylist, but this isn't my first time styling for outfits. For me, making fashion is like working with machines. They need to be built and fixed continuously with precision until the end results would function systematically without breaking apart or combusting in overload."

"Interesting," says Chay. "Well, I think I can say I have a different story."

"Go ahead!" says Bonita.

Chay starts, "When I told my parents that I'm gay, they... they disowned me. They let me out of the house. I had to work three jobs a day. I had to sleep in the park or find a place to rent. Luckily, I'm not such a Debbie Downer, so I got a scholarship to fashion school, and here I am!"

"Do you still ever meet your parents?" asks Cate with curiosity.

"I know where they live, but they don't want to talk to me." Chay says, "I don't need them anymore."

"You had it rough," Cate says. "You don't deserve it."

"Nobody deserves it," says Anino.

"I have two moms who will be willing to beat up your parents," says Neomett.

"Thanks fam," says Chay. "Don't worry. I'm all okay to this day."

Sylvia notices some of the kids approaching their respective mentors. "I'll just get more food," she tells the people on her table. She plans to get more food after all, but she visits the mentors' table first.

Corinna approaches Sylvia saying, "We are planning what to do tomorrow. Can you help us plan?"

"Of course!" Sylvia replies. "I'll be back in a bit. Don't be afraid to talk to your escorts or stylists. They can help you too!"

"Thanks Sylvia. You're the best!" Corinna gives Sylvia a hug and the latter returns it.

"I'll be back with more food, so you can talk to them first."

Soon enough, the room is filled with people discussing about the events of tomorrow. They exchange ideas, plan fun stuff to do tomorrow, advertise about prank night, and more.

* * *

Isis greets, "Welcome back to Isis' Midnight Show everyone! Our guest before the commercial break, Brennan Bravo, would like to advertise his blog to us all. If you want to see more of his works, just visit blacksmith hyphen brennan, dot timblr, dot com." Isis shows a preview of the website with the screen onstage. "Now we have our third stunt person for the upcoming hunger games! She may never have been to movies and play stunts ever, but she has a reason to join us in this year's hunger games. Without further ado, let us welcome our stunt person, Eltha Duthaulge!"

People clap and cheer as the middle-aged woman with long blonde hair and turquoise streaks enters the stage nervously. She waves her hands shyly to the audience. She has blue contact lenses for both eyes and pale but glittering skin. She has no makeup on the face, making her look less worthy to fashion-centric viewers. She is wearing a long-sleeved dress colored in royal blue, going all the way down to the floor. It's not too tight for her, but it is quite long. She takes a seat beside Isis."

"Good midnight, Eltha!"

Eltha smiles weakly.

"Is there something wrong?" worries Isis.

"It's... it's my life, I guess," replies Eltha, looking down.

"What is the matter with it? Is that the reason you volunteered for this role?"

"Honestly, yes." As Eltha says it, most of audience gasp in shock or react with interest.

"Do you mind telling us more about it?"

"It's my... I don't know where to start," chuckles Eltha.

"Why you chose to join us here tonight, by becoming a stunt person."

"Really, it's for the money. I need the money to prove my mom wrong. My mom thinks I'm poor, and she treats me like I'm worthless."

"How are you poor?" Isis asks curiously.

"After my husband died of cancer, I have less income with me. My current job doesn't pay me much."

"What is your current job?"

"Well, I usher people, whether it's in a cinema or in an amusement park."

"Oh dear, did you try applying for other jobs?"

"I tried to be an escort, but whenever I had to go through the application process, I either don't make it to the end or I have no motivation to get there. I guess part of it had to do with my husband's death and my mother causing stress."

"Life seems to be hard for you," Isis states with pity. "Can you tell me more about your husband?"

"Oh, we were children who lived in the same neighborhood. We played together. We went to school together. Winsworth Duthaulge was my best friend forever. I love him to bits, till death." Eltha flicks off a dropping tear on her cheek.

"I'm sorry," says Isis, about to cry as well. "He sounds so sweet."

"I know, I know. He's like my prince."

"Did you have children together?"

"Seven."

"Seven!?" reacts Isis.

"No, his name is Seven. I love Seven. He has his father's eyes, his father's cuteness, his father basically. I just wish..." Eltha pauses and doesn't resume from that.

"You wish...?"

"I wish I could have done more for my son," Eltha shares.

"Why?"

"I feel so underappreciated, and I don't know if it's my fault."

"Oh no, don't feel bad. I heard it's very hard to be a parent. I'm pretty sure your parents had a hard time raising you too."

"Yeah they did, my mom especially. There are seven of us, and I'm the fifth eldest."

"Oh wow, that's a lot! How could you say that your mother had an especially-hard time raising you and your siblings though?"

Eltha starts teary-eyed. She doesn't know how to answer that question. No wait, she does. "Um... my father... he passed away when I was six."

"Oh no, I'm sorry." Isis leans over to Eltha's side and rubs her back. "You must have had a rough childhood."

"Half of it. The other half was okay, I guess. Maybe it's just a third of it that's okay."

"How about your siblings? Do they get stressed by your mother?"

"I don't know. They probably did. We all have a two-year gap in age. I haven't seen them in so long. They moved out a long time ago, and I have never seen them after that."

"It's sad to think about never being reunited with your siblings. I can't imagine not meeting my twin brother at least once a year."

"You have a twin brother?"

"Yeah! He's more of a school person, unlike me. Haha! I haven't gone to college, since I already have this job."

"That's good for you." Eltha smiles weakly.

"Don't worry, Eltha. Life will shape up too once you win that money after leaving the arena alive."

"Yeah." Eltha chuckles weakly.

"Aside from not meeting your siblings, do you at least have friends?"

 _Oh no..._ "I... I had a handful of friends when I was a child, when I was in school. I lost contact of them though, so I guess my friends right now are my colleagues."

"Oh no! You need more friends. We'll talk backstage later."

"Yeah, we could."

"Can you tell us what you're excited about for this year's games?"

"Well... I like that I get to live in a castle."

"Oh that's so cool!"

"It is, no pun intended."

"Pun?"

"You know it."

"Oh yeah I do, haha!"

"The castle is cool, but I plan to make it cooler, and I'm excited for that."

"That's an interesting detail," says Isis as she sits back a bit.

"I want to write that into my diary. Imagine: Once upon a time, Eltha lived in a castle for the 140th Hunger Games."

"That sounds cool indeed! I didn't know you keep a diary."

"Yeah I do. It's like a... it is a solace."

"What else do you keep there?"

"Oh you know, memories, good and bad alike."

"Is there one entry you remember the most without even checking it out and reading it?"

"Um... there is, but... it's sad."

"Oh no."

"It was the day my father never came back from his business trip."

"That's never good. What was his job?"

Eltha freezes with that question.

Isis notices Eltha's body language and immediately changes the topic. "Let's talk about something nicer then. Do you remember your wedding day entry in your diary?"

"Oh yes, I remember that too. I love him even to this day."

"You mentioned it earlier, and yes, those sound like great memories."

"They are! Imagine being married to your best friend since childhood."

"I can't. I don't intend to marry my twin brother."

"Oops," says Eltha softly as she covers her mouth.

"It's okay! Our definition of best friend is different. Hahaha!"

"Yeah they are." Eltha chuckles weakly.

Isis asks, "Going back to happy times, what are other fun and happy times for you?"

"Other fun and happy times I think are when my father was still alive and when my siblings and I had fun playing, when we were kids. That was, of course, before my father's death."

"I'm sorry to ask this, but how old are you again?"

"Oh, age is just a number. When it's your time to go, it's your time to go. Anyway, I'm forty-six."

"You said your father died when you were six?"

"Yeah."

"And you love your husband so much."

"Yeah, he's actually younger than me by a month and a half."

"You love him so much that... that you took his surname."

"Of course!"

"Do you still remember your maiden name."

"Of course. It's Machron."

"Interesting..." Isis thinks, _I'll need to research on that._

"Why did you ask?"

"I'm just curious of maiden names. I mean, some people like putting a hyphen after their maiden name and before their married name."

"I see. I love my husband that much."

"I can tell." Isis smiles. She doesn't lie with that reason, but she doesn't say she's curious about something, something deeper given that surname. "Last question: Besides proving your mother wrong, what do you intend to do with the money?"

"I still haven't put too much thought into it, but I'll definitely use it for Seven's education."

"That makes sense!"

"He looks so much like his father."

"Well, I'm excited for how you'll manage the castle."

"Thank you for having me here. I've barely gone out to something big like this."

"Thank you for being with us too tonight!" Isis shakes hands with Eltha.

"I'm very glad to be here."

Isis smiles at that. "After the break, we will have the founder of Orbitron Universe, one of the most successful arcades and gaming companies in Panem. Stay tuned!" Inside her is a disturbing thought. She was never born yet that time, but she is very curious about something after this interview. _It can't be,_ she thinks, in disbelief.

* * *

AN:

I barely finished this chapter on time, but I'm glad I did!

First off, my blogmaker would like to announce that scores will be up on the blog soon. Also, she wants to inform y'all about giving her a time allowance after any update before she can edit the blog. :)

As I've mentioned previously, the story will be officially on hiatus. I'm starting thesis this trimester. Furthermore, I'm building my portfolio, so I plan to be more active in some extracurricular work as well as working on my 3D animation project due by the end of the trimester. Other than those, I'm falling behind in like 10 stories, and there may be more over the next several weeks. That said, I shall return around late August or September.

Some other reminders: I'm lenient with sponsor points, so I'm giving them away too much. XD If you guess 18 out of 24 correctly as to who submitted which tribute, I'll give you 100 points. (Due: Launch Chapter) Moreover, you can get 50 points for every fanart you show me. (No deadline) Yeah, you can have infinite points, if you're wondering. XD

Announcement: Since it's the in-thing and super fun and easy to use, I now have a Discord server for the story! :D Actually, it's for the whole Cards-verse, but this is the only story so far. If you wanna join, just let me know and I'll send you the invite link.

I asked a few chapters back if you know the origins of the names of mentors. Well, here they are!  
~Lorenzo Delcroix: References to Christianity, his family's religion. Lorenzo is a saint's name while Delcroix means 'of the cross.'  
~(Hazel) Ciencius: Comes from ciencia, science in Spanish.  
~(Azriel) Ruby: There's a programming language called Ruby on Rails.  
~(Tommy) Rotterdam: Largest port in Europe.  
~Delta Delta: That's both the Greek letter delta and the waterform delta respectively. Somebody pointed out the coincidence that delta is the fourth letter of the Greek alphabet, and she's D4. XD  
~Magnette (Quirlix): Magnet. XD  
~(Robert) Royce: Rolls-Royce. 8)  
~Woodrow (Stirling): Wood, D7, hehe.  
~(Alana) Tapiocassava: Directly quoting from Wikipedia: "Tapioca is a starch extracted from cassava root."  
~Jakobbo Langka: Langka is jackfruit in Filipino. Speaking of jackfruit, his first name came from that too, the Jak part at least. XP

Let's see what's next... check-in time! Btw, if you remember the check-in I asked for last year that said, "If your tribute has a chance to freely go around the Capitol for 1 day, where would they go?" Well, it's for free day! :D If you didn't give me any, I'll come up with it on my own. If you haven't sent in the 1st check-in though (it's on the parade chapter), I'll still need it, so please do send the check-in if you haven't. Meanwhile, regarding free day, if you have any requests for specific characters interacting, just let me know and I'll see how I'll fit them in.

That said, we now have our second check-in! Simple question: What is your tribute's favorite color? Alternatively, what color would you associate your tribute with? I'll use these colors to color the roles in the Discord server. None is a possible answer, and that gives me creative liberty for the tribute's role color.

What a mouthful for this AN! Thanks for sticking around with me if you have! :D It's been a long journey, but we're almost getting to the arena. Bloodbath is scheduled to be on December this year. That's my personal deadline.

So yeah, thank you very much for sticking around. Until then! :D


End file.
